Sonic the Hedgehog: A tale of Ash
by BeautyWithinSuffering
Summary: The Ashes of the past will forever haunt the present. Darkness lurks in distant memories and when all hope dies, evil is born. Sonic and all of Mobius have a new threat to deal with, but will they be able to beat someone who is willing to do anything to win? Only time will tell.
1. Prologue: From out of the Ashes

**Hello to all the readers who have decided to check out my story. This is my first story that I have posted to Fanfic and I hope that I will post more in time.**

 **This is a story about Sonic and his interactions with a new character (No he is not me, he is my OC though). In this story I have tried very hard to stay true**

 **to the** **timeline** **and story that has been established in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics in the Pre Super Genesis Wave Timeline.(Since that is when I began**

 **writing this). I have been** **working on this piece for a little while now and after much editing and fixing I have** **decided to post it. This is the prologue to a**

 **the story that will forever change the face of Mobius (or at least one of the Mobiuses. (Multiverse is cannon anyone?)). I would greatly appreciate any and**

 **all criticisms of my writing or any inconsistencies that anyone should point out within my story. I am trying to stay as true as I can to the Timeline of the**

 **comic before my character is introduced. As I said earlier my story is based off of the comic and** **I would recommend that anyone who hasn't already read**

 **the comic to go and pick it up somewhere or download it online. All chapters before STH#237 are considered cannon to my story, and everything after is**

 **up for debate. Chapter 1 begins in between the chapters of 236 237. in the STH comic. For anyone looking to read this work it** **is crucial to know and**

 **understand the events going on in the universe within that time frame. Now that all of the introductions and notices are out of the way, time for a little**

 **disclaimer.**

 _All characters used or mentioned in this story are not owned by me. They are owned, licensed, and trademarked by either the Sega Corporation, Archie Comics, or Ken Penders. All trademarked characters are explicitly owned by those mediums and are not my own creation or idea. All characters not explicitly owned by them are my own creation and therefore my characters. Any use of these characters by anyone who does not have my express permission to use them are stealing._

 **Now then, I hope you enjoy the very beginning of a tale of Ash...**

 _Time:Unkown_

 _Place:Unkown_

 _Name:..._

I was laying in the ashes that covered the ground around me. They were still warm from the fire so I had covered myself in them. I had been laying in them for several hours, staring into the distance as I tried to warm myself. It was midday in the middle of the desert and I was sitting in the embers of a fire under the burning sun. It was hot enough outside to create waves of heat that could be seen shimmering on the desert sand. I was outside in this heat and yet I was cold. I rubbed my shoulders and my skin felt hot to the touch. I knew that I must have been very hot and running a fever, but inside I was colder than I had ever been before. It felt as though body had lost all the heat it normally held. My skin was hot, but I was still cold on the inside. So very very cold.

 _"I am going to die."_ I thought, as I sat there and stared blankly into the horizon. My time on this world was coming to an end. I was dying, and I didn't have long left to live. This is why I was cold, and also why I was tired. My eyelids kept trying to close and I kept feeling myself start to fall asleep. I was cold, hot, tired, and felt like taking a nap. Every time I felt myself begin to nod off I tried to keep myself awake. I knew deep down that if I fell asleep that I wouldn't wake up, but it was so hard to stay awake. I kept myself awake by thinking about things. My thoughts shifted from one thing to the next in order to keep me awake. At the moment the only thing that I could still focus on was survival, and my lack of ability to do so. I didn't have any food, and yesterday I had run out of water. I had drank the last bit of liquid that I had, and there were no sources of water around for miles. I would soon die of dehydration and then I wouldn't have to worry about surviving anymore. The lack of water made it difficult to do anything, like move, breath, and think. I had tried so hard, done everything that I could, but there was nothing left to keep me going. The only thing I could do in that moment was to wait for my life to end. My struggle was over, my time was finished, and soon enough I would join my parents...

I shivered as the thought engrossed my mind. I wouldn't cry for them now, not any more, not even if I still could. They had both died eight days ago and left me without food, water, or shelter. My mom and dad had gone into the ruins of the city in search for something to eat. At the time it never crossed my mind that I would never see them again. I didn't try to remember them, I didn't try to think about it anymore, but the scene still played out in my starved and dying mind. Mom was standing next to Dad who had a large backpack on. She was looking at him with a caring smile upon her face. They were standing just outside of the city's limits and making sure that they were ready to travel inside. Mom reached out for Dad's hand and he took it and held onto her gently. She smiled at him and he smiled back with the same love and caring she had. After a moment they had turned their attention back to me. At the time, I was sitting on the ground and playing with some bricks I found lying around. I was stacking them up into the shape of a tower. I took my eyes away from my bricks and looked up at them. They smiled at me as they watched me play. They always showed me nothing but love and kindness no matter how bad things were. Mom let go of dad's hand and walked up to me. She bent down to my level and gave me a hug. Dad walked over and patted me on my head while mom held me closely. I remembered the final words they said to me.

"We will be gone for just a few hours to scavenge food." Dad said as he looked at me.

"It shouldn't take us too long to see whether or not there is anything to eat out here. Don't stray far from this spot, and stay outside of the city limits..." He finished. He grabbed Mom's hand and pulled her away from me. She stood up and continued to look at me as she held hands with dad.

"We will be back soon." Dad said as he looked at me. He turned his attention towards Mom who was also looking at me.

"I love you, be safe." Mom said. She and Dad then turned around and walked into the ruined city. I thought about what they said as I sat in the ashes, thinking of how they lied to me. The memory began to turn into another one, a loud sound, feelings of panic, me crying in the street. I forced it away and decided to stop thinking about that. It wouldn't help me in my current situation, and there was no point thinking about it anymore. There was no point in me thinking about anything anymore. I was cold inside, my parents were both dead, and now I was alone...

On the first night after my parents died the wind picked up and I sat there in the streets of the city, in the darkness of night, shivering. I was cold, but not in the way I was now. It was the frigid air and the lack of warmth that had made me shiver. I knew that nights in the desert were cold, but I didn't expect them to be so harsh. I would have died from the cold if I hadn't found something to keep me warm. From my spot in the street I could see a burning building nearby. I didn't know what had started the fire or why the building was burning. After a while outside in the cold, I went inside of it and laid in the ashes of the burning building. I stayed close enough to the fire to feel its warmth, but far enough away so that I wouldn't get burned or hit with burning debris. I covered myself in the ashes of the fire and slept in the building that was burning away. Every night I went back to it and covered myself in the embers it produced. I used the fire to keep myself warm and sheltered, but that wasn't enough. I didn't have any food, nor did I have any for quite sometime before my parents had died. Looking back we always seemed short on items like food and clothes. I guess that we were lucky enough to have the amount of water we did. Even with the lack of supplies my parents would take care of me and make sure that I got enough to eat and drink. I always noticed that they gave me more food then they would eat and sometimes they would go hungry as they made sure that I was fed. They always told me that they were full and that because I was growing, I needed more food then they did. Like any innocent child I believed them, but now I knew better. They did everything they could for me even though it cost them, but none of that helped me now. Because they had tried so hard to provide for me they were both dead, and I was left with a pain in my heart, and a hole in my stomach. I was hungry, but I ignored that. There was nothing I could do about it now anyway. there was nothing around for miles that I could eat, nothing at all, Except for...

I stopped myself from following that train of thought, I didn't want to do that. I was hungry, however my father had said that people can go much longer without food than they could without water. I didn't have any food, but I hadn't died yet so I simply ignored the pain in my stomach. I did wonder though whether my will to survive would overpower my own stubbornness or not. It didn't matter if I ate anything or not right now. Although I was starving, I was dying of thirst first and foremost. That would kill me before anything else and there was nothing I could do to stop that. Water is the most important thing someone needs in order to survive. It was what I needed and what I couldn't stop thinking about. Living in the desert I knew and understood the importance of water since before I could talk. I knew that I needed to drink something in order to live. For two days after they had died I had been without water. On the third day I could feel myself begin to die, and so my natural survival instincts took over and I found something to drink... I licked my lips and swallowed as my body remembered the liquid going down my throat. Now however I had nothing left. I was out of water, out of food, and I was alone; sitting in the ashes of a building that had been burned to the ground. I sat in the ashes while staring towards the horizon, waiting for myself to die...

The sun moved overhead and the heat continued to beat down on me. Time was irrelevant in the sense that I could no longer count the minutes. Time was time and nothing else. It dictated nothing as there was nothing for it to dictate, other than the position of the sun. I felt myself begin to go to sleep and I knew that this time I wouldn't be able to keep myself awake. It was time for me to leave this world and join my parents in whatever waited beyond. Just as I was about to close my eyes I noticed something off in the distance. At first I thought it was a tumble weed or a piece of cloth blowing in the wind. After looking at it for several seconds I realized that it was a person who was coming towards me. They were far away and I couldn't make out any details. I could barely see the motion of them against the heat waves of the sand. I held my eyes open and kept myself awake. It was pointless to do so, but the possibility of someone approaching me was something that I couldn't ignore. They were probably out here in order to look for food or supplies. There was nothing out here for miles, so once they arrived they wouldn't stay for very long. If they were hungry enough then maybe they would eat me after I was dead. I thought about that as I watched the figure approach the city. Time had regained its relevance as I counted the seconds it took to arrive. After nearly thirty minutes the figure had reached the city and was much closer to me than it previously was. My body grew heavy and I felt more tired and cold than I had earlier. I wanted to go to sleep, but the figure allowed me to focus on staying awake. It came closer and I realized that it was walking directly towards me. After several more minutes it was close enough for me to make out specific details. It was a tall person wearing a sand colored cloak that concealed their entire body. The cloak was worn and ragged and looked as though it had been torn a number of times. The cloak covered everything but the eyes and mouth of the person under it. I couldn't see him under it because of the shadow the cloak's hood cast on the persons face as they stood in the sun. As they came closer I also noticed that they were wearing a large backpack that was also sand colored and ragged. The person had walked forwards and was now just a few feet away from me. They stopped and looked at me and I looked back at them. We watched each other for a moment and I wondered what they were going to do. I imagined him ripping me apart and eating me, but that thought didn't bother me at all. I was destined for death and if this person would be my end then I was ready to accept it. I looked at him for a few more moments in silence before anything happened. Finally, they decided to speak to me.

"What are you doing out here kid." The person said to me. I could tell by their voice that it was a man who was under that cloak. His voice was deep and cool, and easy to understand. He spoke his words with purpose and I felt myself grow content listening to them. I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but found that I wasn't able to. I had drank nothing in days and my throat was too dry to make sounds. I tried to talk to him a few more times but I wasn't able to. I looked at him in a defeated way as I sat there and stared at him.

"Here," The man said. "Drink some of this." He reached into the pack that he had on his back and pulled out a large metal container filled with liquid. I heard the way the water sloshed around within and every part of my body exploded with a burst of energy. He had water, and he was willing to give it to me. For so long I had accepted my fate. I was dying and there was nothing that I could do to continue to live. I didn't know why he was doing this, I didn't know how I was still alive in the first place. I had been without water for so long that I could no longer use any part of my body. I was on the verge of death and had given up any hope of staying alive. I had given up hope, hope of living, hope of surviving, and hope of finding meaning in my life.

He unscrewed the cap and held the canister out for me to grab. I didn't know if I could move my arm but I needed to try so that I could continue to live. I moved my arm and found that it was shaking uncontrollably. I couldn't feel my arm, but I was somehow still able to move it. I tried to steady it so that I wouldn't spill the contents of the container when I took it from him. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I spilled even a single drop of precious water onto the ground. I grabbed the container and began to move it towards my mouth. I could feel every part of my being thirst for the life source that was contained within.

"Don't drink it all." The man said to me before I took a sip. I held the container close to my mouth but didn't drink. As much as it was killing me not to, I listened to his words as the man spoke to me.

"There aren't any rivers or lakes around here for me to refill that in. Once that is gone I'll be out of water until I find some more." He said. I held the container in my hands and looked at it. It was over halfway full of water but I could easily drink it all. It looked so good, and I was so thirsty...

I could feel the blood pounding in my ears, the cold of my insides, the failure of my liquid starved organs. All of my senses were telling me to drink it all as quickly as I could, to save myself and continue to live. I held it in my shaking hand and brought it closer to my mouth. I almost poured all of the contents down my throat, but I managed to overpower my instincts and use my head. I couldn't drink it all, nor should I. I needed water to live yes, but I didn't need it all. After several moments hesitation I put the end of it to my lips and took a drink. I took a few gulps full and somehow managed to stop and put it down. I may have needed it to live, but so did he. This man had given me his water, had given me his life, and as much as I wanted to I wouldn't drink more than I needed. Besides, If I drank it all now then there wouldn't be any left for me or him later. That would do more harm than good and could end up killing us both. I licked my lips as I felt saliva begin to coat my tongue. I handed him the container back and he took it from me and then gave it a shake. I heard the liquid slosh around as he shook it. He then screwed the cap back on the container and returned it to his pack.

"You drank less than I thought you would have." The man said to me. I swallowed my saliva and tried to respond to his statement.

"If I drank it all then we would both die." I said. I noticed that my voice sounded different than it normally did. Maybe it was because of how long I had been dying of thirst, or maybe it was because of everything that I had been through. I didn't know which reason it was, but my voice sounded deeper, emotionless, as empty as I felt.

"Hmm. You're strong for your age, and resilient too. He said to me. I continued to sit in the ashes and stare at him. He had given me his water and kept me alive. I didn't know what would come next.

"Now then." He said to me. "I have questions that still need answered." He said. I thought back and tried to remember what his questions were. My mind was still a little fuzzy from being dehydrated but I was begging to think clearly again. After a few moments of searching I remembered what it was that he had first asked me.

"I was out here with my parents who were looking for supplies." I said to him. I couldn't tell what he was thinking because I couldn't see his face under the cloak. He stood there and did nothing for a moment before he spoke again.

"Where are they?" He asked me. I didn't need to think to know the answer to this question. I responded to him immediately and with no emotion in my voice.

"They're dead. They both died over a week ago." I said. Saying that didn't make me sad or angry in any way. After everything that I had been through since their deaths I was well over it and no longer sad. Being sad wouldn't have kept me alive, and it wouldn't do me any good now. The man continued to look at me and I still couldn't see his face.

"And you've been by yourself the whole time?" He asked me.

"Yes." I responded. There was a brief moment of silence before either of us did anything else. After a brief moment of time had passed I heard him speak.

"How long?" He asked me. I counted the days in my head and gave him an answer.

"Eight days." I replied. I thought that it must not have seemed like a long time to him, but for eight days I had struggled to survive with nearly no food, water, or shelter to speak of. For those eight days I had done more to survive than I had ever thought possible. I was unsure of what would come next but I did know that it would involve the man that I was speaking to.

"So where did you find food and water?" He asked me. I didn't have to think hard to come up with an answer.

"I didn't eat anything. I didn't have any food and there isn't any around." I said to him. He asked me another question immediately after I responded.

"And water?" He asked. I stopped looking at him and instead stared into the ground. I didn't want to answer him. I didn't want to say what I had drank. That had to have been the worst of the eight days and I didn't want to think about it anymore. I sat in silence and didn't reply. After nearly a minute of silence he finally said something.

"Well, it would be nearly impossible for you to go an entire week without water. That being said it looks like you're dehydrated and on your last legs. How were you planning on surviving without anything to eat or drink?" He asked me. I responded to his question by saying the words that I had thought of for so long, the words that I had accepted days ago.

"I'm not going to survive. I don't have any way to sustain myself, so I am just going to die out here." I said to him. After I was done I took a moment to take in what I had said. I knew that I was going to die, that there was nothing for me other than death. I had accepted my fate when I had run out of water, and I was over being sad of my situation. It was the way it was and there was nothing that I could do about it. I had cried and wept for the first few days but now that there was only one option left to me. Now I had felt nothing at all. When everything else had died around me, the only thing left was acceptance of my situation. The man stood there in silence as I thought about my life. After I was done I looked up at him and asked a question that I had thought about.

"Are you going to leave me?" I asked him. I didn't know what he wanted to do or what he thought about me. All I knew was that he had most likely come here in search of supplies and food like my parents had done. Now that he knew there was nothing here he would most likely leave me here to die. I wasn't his concern and he had no reason to take care of me. He looked at me from under his hood and I could tell that he was about to give me an answer.

"Yes." He said. He took several steps towards me and then veered to the right and began to walk past. I didn't turn and watch him go. He was leaving me and there was nothing I could do. He may have granted me some extra time on this world but in the end it didn't matter. I was going to be alone again, and then I would die. I was so lost in thought that I almost missed what he said to me.

"That doesn't mean you can't follow me." He said. I turned around and looked at the man. He was standing behind me with his back facing towards the setting sun. He didn't move as he stood there and took in its brilliance. I didn't believe that I had heard him right. I didn't believe that this could be real. I tried to put my feelings into words and tell him how I felt.

"You... Would let me come with you?" He turned around and looked at me as I sat in the ashes.

"If you prove yourself useful you can." He replied. I thought about his offer and about this town. Everything that was left of my old life remained here. Everything that I had was in this city, and it was all either dead or dying. If I stayed then I would soon be dead, and there was no point in dying if I could stay alive. I thought about leaving with him and decided to do so. With him I had a future, even if I didn't know where it would take me. I realized that if I was to travel with him I might as well learn as much as I could.

"Where do you plan on going?" I asked him. It was a simple enough question, but one that helped to make the idea of living a reality.

"I'm looking for someone, and I am going to keep traveling until I find them." He replied. I thought about that for a moment before I spoke again.

"Who are you trying to find?" I asked him.

"A woman named Veihl." He said. I didn't know anyone else other than my parents. If they were alive then maybe he could have asked them about whether they knew this person or not. I wanted to know as much about this man as I could. He had saved my life and was going to let me come with him. I should at least get to know him, so I kept asking him questions.

"Do you know what she looks like?" I asked him. If I knew what she looked like then I would be able to help him search for her. He didn't answer me at first but after a moment he responded.

"I... Don't know what she looks like." He said. I was confused by his statement and didn't understand what he meant.

"Why are you looking for someone if you don't know who they are?" I asked.

"I will tell you later... Maybe." He said. I stared at him and wondered just what this person might look like. The only people I had ever seen was my mom, dad, my reflection, the cloaked man, and...

A face appeared in my mind and a memory surfaced. It surfaced and I shoved it back down. I wouldn't think about him now. I would keep him out of my thoughts as much as I could. Other than them I had never seen anyone else before, and I didn't know that other people had existed. Before they had died I had only thought that we were the only people who existed. The thought of meeting more people was a curios thought that both scared and excited me.

"So what's your name?" He asked, disrupting my thoughts.

"My parents called me Hope." I answered. He nodded in response.

"Okay then Hope, come with me and help me find who I am looking for." He said. He then turned around and began to walk away from me and towards the end of the city. I stayed seated in the ashes and didn't go with him at first. He walked about ten feet before he turned his head back and saw that I wasn't walking with him.

"What?" He asked. I thought about my name and all that it entailed. My name was a statement, a message, and the only thing I had left of my parents. It was who I am, or rather who I used to be. In my mind it was my name and what I was meant to be called. But in my heart I no longer felt that hope was who I was. Everything I had ever loved was dead, and all that was left was me. Hope couldn't leave the city, because Hope had been buried under the rubble with both of my parents...

"My name was hope." I said to the man who was still looking at me. "But I don't want to be called Hope anymore."

"Then what do you want to be called?" He asked. I stood there and thought for a moment. I then replied.

"You can call me whatever you want, just not Hope," The man stood there and looked at me and thought for a moment before he responded.

"Very well. Your new name is Ash. Now come along." he said. I stood there and looked at him as he began to walk away into the unknown. This stranger had shown up and saved my life and he had given me a purpose to keep on living. I stood there and stared at him for a few more seconds before I did anything. Then I called out to him.

"What is your name?" I asked him. He turned back around and looked at me. The man lifted up his hands to his face and pulled his hood down. He had long quills like me, except his were jet black with red stripes in the middle. He had red eyes and an expression that would have scared me if he had not save my life.

"My name is Shadow, now hurry up." He said. And so I followed him and we left behind everything else, including the remains of my parents.

 **Well then, did you enjoy the first chapter? What did or didn't you like about it? Questions, errors, problems, please feel free to ask me or tell me about anything that comes to mind. Thank you Reader for looking at my story and for giving me a shot. There will be more chapters to come and more stories after that. Thanks for reading and please come again soon.**

 **This story is based off of the Archie "Sonic the Hedgehog Comic" and therefore combined with the Comicbook writing style.**

 **Actions will be put in *BOLD* with asterisks around them.**

 **Sounds will be described or** _Italicized._

 **Thoughts are** _Italicized **and put in "Quotation marks.**_

 **The name of the person from which the story's perspective will be told from will be stated at the beginning of the story along with the time and the place that they are speaking from. (Unless it is unknown for *some* reason.**


	2. Chapter 1: A Long Time Later

_Hello to all the readers out there. It took me a while but I finally finished editing Chapter 1 Here_

 _begins the story with a little catch up before hand to ease in the new readers. I hope you enjoy and_

 _please leave a comment if you like it, disliked it, found any grammar errors, or just had any questions._

 _Everything you say can help me improve my writing so that I can produce the highest quality that I_

 _can. Now then. Welcome to Mobius._

 _Welcome to the planet Mobius- a world unique and beyond what you know from the Sega games- A world where heroes stand together to fight the ultimate evil, Doctor Eggman. The Doctor is one of the smartest men on the planet, as well as the cruelest of all. Eggman has tried time and time again to destroy Sonic and the Freedom Fighters so that he can conquer the world and be ruler of every being on the planet. Over the years Sonic has fought him and beaten him time and time again. Still, Eggman has always managed to come back stronger, and more cunning every time. Such is the circle of good and evil that both must exist and both must fight. If the scales were to tip in either favor then the results would be catastrophic for both ends. Long have the scales remained in balance thanks to the actions of Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. They have always managed to defeat the forces of evil and keep the world in sync... Until now._

 _Recently, Eggman revealed his most powerful and devastating weapon to date, The Death Egg MK II. He used it to fly over the city of New Mobotropolis and attack the citizens with it. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters quickly assembled in retaliation of the attack. Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally boarded the Death Egg and sought out Eggman in order to stop him. Eggman then used a Chaos Emerald to power a part of his Death Egg, the Cosmic Reset Button. By pressing the button,he would reset all of space and time, which would allow him to once again Roboticize people. Eggman pressed the button and reset all of space and time, but Sonic managed to stop Eggman and reverse all of the damage he had done. Sonic reversed the Cosmic Reset and then proceeded to save Sally and go further into the Death Egg to fight Eggman. Since he could no longer Roboticize the inhabitants of the world, Eggman decided that he would instead use his Roboticizer to destroy the world and all technology in it. Sonic and Princess Sally managed to stop his plans, but at a terrible cost. Sally was Roboticized and became one of Eggmans puppets. Sally then threw Sonic off of the Death Egg and allowed Eggman to make his escape. Later, Eggman then attempted to assassinate the former king of Acorns Prince Elias. This plot was foiled by the brave sacrifice of Antoine d'Coolette who gave everything he could in the service of the king. With Antoine in a coma with little possibility of waking up, and Princess Sally as his robotic slave, Eggman believed that he had crushed the Freedom Fighters and destroyed their hope. Eggman then began to fly around the world wreaking havoc upon its people and creating Chaos wherever he went._

 _After defeating and imprisoning his former accomplice Snively, Eggman began to attack Furville village only to be stopped by the new Team Fighters. After being defeated he realized that he desperately needed to refuel and repair the Death Egg before he could do anything else. Eggman began to travel to the Shazamazon base in order to get those repairs. Upon the way Eggman has taken a brief stop at another location, Eggbase Alpha. This base was the first one constructed in his Eggbase series, a group of hidden basses that he could use to refuel and repair the Death Egg with. Unfortunately for him, he decided to scrap the project and now the bases only purpose was a temporary hiding spot for the Death Egg. Eggman planed on hiding here in order to try and throw Team Fighters off of him before he made his way to the Shazamazon base. With Sonic, Tails, Amy, and T-Pup chasing Eggman around the world, it was almost certain that Eggman's plans would be foiled again. As Eggman prepares to leave the base something begins to happen outside. Something that will change the scales that have been so delicately balanced, and something that will change the face of Mobius forever. That is where the story takes place..._

Time: Present

Place: The Desert

 _Ash_

I felt as a gust of wind blew by and brushed me with grains of sand. I stood on top of a sand dune as I gazed into the horizon. For miles and miles around there were no signs of life, no signs of shelter, nothing other than row upon row of sand. This was my life and had always been my life since the day I was born. There was nothing in this world. Nothing other than pain, sorrow, and the endless sand. This world was my life, it was where I was raised, where I had lived, and where I had died. After living on this world for so long, I couldn't decide how I felt about leaving. I hated this world and everything in it, yet when I thought about leaving I didn't feel happy. It was hard for me to describe how I felt, and that made me wonder about leaving. I wanted to leave, but at the same time some part of me wanted to stay here. I knew how this world worked, I understood the inner workings and knew everything that I could know about it. In the years that I had lived here I had come to understand this place and respect its rules. I wasn't treated differently than anyone else and I had come to find a sense of peace in that. Everyone was the same here, and that meant that I was no different than anyone else. I was an inhabitant of this world, and I accepted that. I knew this world and understood it, but I couldn't stay here any longer. I took in a deep breath and cleared my mind. This world was my home, but I also hated it. I was going to leave, and then my final journey would begin.

I stood there in silence as I prepared to leave. I concentrated my energy as I continued to think. For years I had survived in the desert without any thought towards my future or happiness. I lived in order to live, and I came to realize that it was a fate much worse than death. If a person doesn't have a goal, doesn't have a reason to live, then why should they? Before I had no reason to live other than to keep living, but now for once in my life I had a purpose. It was my destiny to change the world and everyone in it. Not this dead world that held nothing but sand, but a real world that was lush and teeming with life. I didn't know that a world like that existed until I was told about it. Mobius, A world full of life and hope, two things that this world sorely lacked. Hundreds of thousands of people inhabited that world. More people than I could possibly count, and more people than I even knew existed. This was a world that I could come to love, a world where I could finally be happy. I wanted that world for myself, and nothing would get in my way.

With Shadows help I had found my reason for living. It was thanks to him that I had learned about Mobius and how to get there. My thoughts moved on to Shadow and all that he had done for me, all that he had said to me, and all that he had been for me. Shadow kept me alive and showed me what it meant to survive. He was the only reason that I had lived as long as I had, and the only reason that I had managed to live in the first place. After all of the years that we have spent together, only recently did I find out the true nature of our meeting. It was not coincidence that had brought us together, but rather fate that had lead him to me.

We stayed together for years in the desert and we kept each other alive. He kept me going just as much as I kept him. He had mentored me, raised me, and gave me my purpose for living. One time I asked him what his reason for living was. He said that he didn't have a real reason to live, that he simply survived because he refused to die. I chuckled as I thought about his words. He was a very good liar, but a liar all the same. For him I didn't need to use my abilities to tell if he was lying, I could simply tell just by looking at him. He was never fond of telling me the truth, but deep down I knew that he did everything that he did for a reason. He had taught me many lessons that ended up saving me time and time again, and he gave me just the smallest sliver of hope that I could have asked for. He had kept me going in a time when I wanted to quit, and gave me everything that I needed to survive.

I stopped thinking about the past for a moment and focused on the present. Now was not the time for reflecting on my life. Right now I had to focus, I had to get myself to Mobius so that life could have meaning. I knew what I wanted now, my goal was clear. I had done enough fighting just in order to survive. Now I would fight for something that I wanted, something that I believed in. I would fight for my happiness and I would fight until I won. I began to visualize Mobius as I gathered my energy. Soon enough I would get there and soon enough it would be mine. I thought about how I would reach my goals and what I would need to do. I was willing to do anything in order to succeed, no matter how despicable I might seem. I had no problem with bribing, manipulating, stealing, fighting, and killing anyone that I needed to. I had done enough of those things just in order to keep my lungs breathing and my heart beating. I was willing to do what needed to be done in order to achieve my goals. I learned from Shadow that life was not fair, that the only way to get ahead was to pull everyone else behind you, and kill anyone you couldn't move. He told me of how he once reached his goal this way, but in doing so lost everything that he had gained. I realized that being cruel and merciless was not the way that a person should go. I had mercy, and I would give it to those that I could. I would be kind and fair to the people so that I can gain their trust. Just because I was willing to kill didn't mean that killing would be my only answer. I have done so much killing, so much evil, I was ready to be kind to anyone that I could be.

After all of my years living on this planet I have learned that some things can only be done a certain way. I would never reach my goals by being kind to everyone, and killing everyone in my way was not the answer either. It would bring about resentment, it would make me enemies with everyone, and then those enemies would fight me until everyone was dead. I needed to be more than just one side. I needed to win, and the only way to do that was with extreme precision. I would need allies who could take down my enemies, and I would need to make as few enemies as possible. I would still need to make enemies, but I would take care of them any way that I could. To do things this way would require a large amount of time and all of the power I possess. Even though this would be the best way to reach my goals, I needed to be fast and direct. I wanted to reach my goals and I was going to do it quickly, I couldn't afford not to. If doing things one way would take too long, then I would be forced to do it in the fastest way possible. I would do this because I promised myself that I would, and I wouldn't lie to myself.

It was time. It had taken me much longer to harness my power than I would have thought. Maybe I wasn't channeling it right, or maybe I had less time than I thought. I stopped thinking about everything else as I focused my energy. I could feel it coursing through me and I could begin to see where I would go. I channeled the power within myself as it reached its peak. I remembered the words that had been spoken to me and recited them out loud. I unleashed the power that had been building up and orange light consumed me where I stood. It surrounded me, and was the only thing I could see. It was everywhere, it was everything, I could feel its energy moving through me, and as space-time twisted around me.

The light left as quickly as it came and I saw that I was standing somewhere else. I was no longer in the desert, or even on my own planet. I was looked forwards and saw something that was a rarity where I came from. It was a tree, tall and strong with bright green leaves that waved in the wind and long sturdy branches that stretched every which way. I walked over to it and put my hand on the bark. The first time I had seen a tree I was amazed by how something could grow in the desert. It was small and black with no leaves on its branches. It was a dead stick compared to this tree and I was amazed by the difference. I touched the tree and felt it, marveling at its beauty. This one organism held more life in its trunk than any plant had in the endless desert. I continued to hold onto it before I looked around and saw something else. I looked at the ground and noticed that it was neither dirt nor sand that I was standing on, but rather a large green plant. I grew scared for a moment that I was crushing it and tried to find somewhere else to stand. I looked around and realized that it was giant and covered the ground all around me. I stopped jumping around and looked at where I had stood. There were little indents that were visible when looked at, but the plant seemed to be fine after being stepped on. I crouched down and studied it and tried to figure out what it was. After looking closer I realized that it wasn't one big plant, rather hundreds of thousands of little plants that grew out of the ground. I pressed a finger to the ground and felt the earth beneath. It was dark and soft and full of life. There was more water within this ground than I had ever seen. I was amazed by plants that covered the ground and the tree that stood up so high.

I stood up off the ground and realized something else. There wasn't just one tree around here. I spun in a circle and tried to wrap my mind around it. There were trees in every direction. Hundreds of them, thousands, I was surrounded by trees on every side and they were all tall and full of life. I remembered a word that I had learned from somewhere. Whether it was from Shadow or another person I did not know but the word described the scene better than I could have. This was a forest, and I was standing in it. I stared in wonder at the trees that surrounded me and then I closed my eyes and let my other senses tell me more. I could smell things in the air that I had never smelled before. I heard the sounds of the plants as they moved with the wind. I could feel the sun as It showered me with not unrelenting heat but rather with pleasant rays that warmed my skin. There was so much here in just this one little spot that I could stand here for hours and discovering something else. I took it all in and for the first time in years I felt something within me. Standing here in the middle of the forest surrounded by life, I felt a sense of peace that I thought had been lost to me. I relished the feeling as I enjoyed nature. This was only one spot on this world yet I was already happier here than I had been in the desert. I remembered why I came and felt as the feeling of peace left me. I had something that I needed to do, and I had to start doing it. As much as I loved the forest I needed to find out where I was going. I opened my eyes as I organized my thoughts.

 _"I need to figure out where I am, and then I need to find Shadow."_ I thought to myself. I didn't know where to begin, or even how to figure out where I was. The only thing that I knew was that Shadow was here, and he could help me. He had been a bit cryptic in our last conversation, but one thing had stuck with me. He told me that he would be here on Mobius, and that was everything that I needed to know. Shadow was the most powerful person I knew. With his help I could accomplish my goals and together we would be unstoppable. I looked towards the sun and began to figure out how to get my bearings. I covered my eyes as I looked at it so that I wouldn't become blinded by its rays. After a few moments I then looked at the shadows of the trees and noted their angles. I could tell it was midafternoon by how hot it was and how the sun was positioned in the sky. I remembered that Shadow had told me that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. There were four directions that I could travel continuously that would not lead me in a circle. Unless I went around the planet that is. I reset the compass that I had created in my head long ago and adjusted to here and now. If I were to walk directly North, South, East, or West long enough then I would eventually come across something or someone else. If I was unlucky then it would take a long time to find anything. I could end up walking for months depending on sheer luck. It wasn't a good solution to my problem, but it was the only one that I had. The only thing left to do was decide which direction that I wanted to go towards.

I heard a sound from behind me and my reflexes kicked in. I jumped to my right and turned around to see what had made the sound. In between the trees stood three large people who seemed to be wearing bright red clothes. I was surprised and didn't move for a moment. In that moment the three of them turned towards me and I realized that they were about to attack.

"Hold on. My name is…" I began to say. They lifted up their arms and I saw that they had no hands. I was caught off guard and didn't know what to do. Suddenly lasers shout out of the holes in their arms and I realized my mistake. Their hands were weapons and they were firing upon me. I dodged to the side and barely escaped the blast. I ran at them as quickly as I could and prepared to kill them. As I ran towards them I was able to get a better look at them. I realized that these weren't people with lasers for hands but rather robots with laser weapons built in. I had only ever encountered a few robots before and my prior experiences were similar to this one. I remembered that robots were not alive and therefore could not feel pain or be killed, only destroyed. They were tools that could walk around on their own, nothing more. After remembering this I realized that I would be able to talk to them. I could only destroy these robots, and since they weren't alive I didn't need to hold back. I curled up and spun through one of them, cutting it in half. I kicked the second one into the third and knocked them over. I ran over to them and put my fist through their bodies and held it there until they stopped moving. I pulled my fist out and looked at the robots. There were wires sticking out and sending sparks shooting everywhere and a black liquid was leaking from them. I watched as a wire moved close to the pool of black liquid and my instincts told me to run away. I dove away from them as they exploded in a ball of fire and metal. I turned around and looked at the damage that the robots caused. One of the trees had been destroyed entirely and others had been singed and turned black. I was no longer in danger and so my mind returned to its normal state. Several questions popped into my mind but I put those aside as a thought appeared. I turned around and looked at where the robots had been standing and I saw marks in the plants on the ground of where they had stood. I looked at the impressions on the plants and saw that they led to somewhere else. The robots had come from somewhere, which meant that there was something nearby. I smiled as I looked at the path that they had come from.

 _"Maybe this won't take so long after all."_ I thought. I began to follow the footsteps back to where they came from in order to find out why the robots came after me.

Control Room

Eggbase Alpha

 _?_

I sat in my chair in the control room of The Death Egg as I watched the Legionnaires move about and do things. Lien-Da wasn't in the room right now and that was fine with me. She said that she was going to grab something to eat while we're not moving. I would have done the same, but someone needed to supervise these idiots otherwise they could mess something up. Although they were my slaves they were still part organic and therefore capable of making mistakes. If I wasn't in desperate need of so many followers then I would have never made them a part of my army. Still, I didn't have many robots left and I needed to make more. Each of the Legionnaires had robotic enhancements so they weren't as bad as they could be. When Lien-Da had come to me offering her people in exchange for cybernetics I was incredibly thrilled. Not only did I have a new force to play with but I could put bombs inside all of them so that I could kill them all when I was done with them. Lien-Da had come to me for power and I had made sure to give it to her. Only later did she realize that I had gotten the better end of the deal. People should know by now that no matter what happens, Eggman always comes out on top. I smiled as I looked at Snively's empty chair.

 _"Ha, it's what you get you backstabbing traitor."_

Snively had gone rouge on me and attempted to make me lose control of my Legion. I chased the little bug down and taught him the meaning of revenge. He was still alive inside of the Death Egg because I wanted him to watch me win. I would keep him alive long enough for him to see me get everything that he had tried to have for himself. It was nice to have pleasant thoughts when you don't have to worry about anything. Except for the fact that the Death Egg was damaged and nearly out of fuel. I frowned and stroked my mustache as I thought about it.

Sonic still remained a thorn in my side even after I Roboticized his girlfriend and killed one of his other friends. How he could still keep going even after all of that I didn't know. Sonic was either infinitely determined, or as crazy as I am, and that's saying something! It didn't matter though, after my brief reprieve here it was on to the Shazamazon base where I would fill up on fuel and get the repairs that I need. Then I would be able to use my World Roboticizer and finally beat that Hedgehog once and for all. I was brought out of my thought by the sound of an alarm going off.

"Eh, What!" I shouted. I saw as the Legionnaires began to speed around and mess with various control panels.

"Whats going on? Someone give me a status report!" I shouted. I looked down at Orbot and Cubot and saw that they were both watching the Legionnaires move about.

"It seems that we've picked up on an unusual energy burst just outside the base limits." Orbot said. My mind began to race with the possibilities.

"What kind of energy? What did it come from? Is it a Chaos Emerald? I need some answers stat!" I shouted. Cubot brought up a mini display and I looked at the readings.

"It Appears t'be some kind of energy burst. It's only flared once and doesn't seem ta be an Emerald, Arrrrrr." He replied in pirates voice. With his voice chip damaged Cubot randomly spoke with a different accent on a daily basis. It was an annoying feature but it gave him character, and I haven't had time to fix it. I took the information of the energy and did the calculations in my head. After a second I was done.

"These readings are similar to teleportation, but slightly different." I said. I turned to one of the Legionnaires and shouted at them.

"I want eyes on the area now, send out some Egg-Swats and assess the situation!" I shouted. The Legionnaire began to work in after a few moments an imaged displayed on the main screen. It was a first person view of the forest from the Egg-Swats perspective. I watched as the image began to move through the forest and towards where the energy had come from. The robots ran through the forest for several minutes until they came upon a clearing in the woods. In the middle of the clearing there was someone standing in the center near a tree. I looked at the image and immediately recognized quills.

"WHAT! Sonic is here already, but how!" I shouted. It didn't make sense. Sonic should have been far away, and there is no way that he could have found out I was hiding here. Something was going on and I was going to find out what.

"Move the Eggbot closer, get a better look!" I shouted. The Egg-Swat moved in a little closer and the Hedgehog jumped to the side and turned around. I studied the picture of the Hedgehog and realized that it wasn't Sonic. It was darker and more menacing looking then him. Plus it was all alone.

"Is that Shadow?" I asked. I looked at the image on screen and studied it closely. The Eggbot was looking into the sunlight and so the image was blurred one thing that was for sure was that it was a Hedgehog.

"Eh, it doesn't matter if it's Sonic or Shadow. Either way he'll meet the same fate. Open fire!" I shouted. I heard sound come from the screen as the Hedgehog raised his hands.

"Hold on. My name is…" He began to say. He stopped talking when the Egg-Swat lift up its arms and pointed them at him. Normally either of them would have been running right now but instead he stood there and looked at the Eggbots. I smiled as I watched the seen unfold.

 _"Looks like you're too slow."_ I thought to myself. The Eggbots fired and the Hedgehog barely managed to escape the lasers. It dove to the right and ran at the Eggbots. They continued to fire at him but he dodged all of the blasts and continued to run. I watched onscreen as the Hedgehog curled up and used a spin attack against the robot that was filming. The camera fell to the ground but continued to play. The Hedgehog then dashed over and kicked the two other Egg-Swats off to the side and then punched a hole in them. He tore his fist out and looked at the bots before he dove away from them before they exploded. The camera then watched the Hedgehog as he approached the Eggbot and looked at the ground around it. He then moved off camera towards the direction that the Egg-Swats had come from. The video continued to play for a moment before it was cut out and replaced with a black screen and the words (connection lost). I sat there and stared at the image for a moment as I thought about what happened.

"That wasn't Shadow." I said out loud. This Hedgehog was a dark gray but not black colored. He also didn't have the red streaks in his quills that Shadow had. I didn't know who this Hedgehog was, but he was about to find out what happens when you mess with Eggman.

"Sir, he appears to be heading towards us. Do you want to send out the Legionnaires?" Orbot asked me. I thought about it for a moment before I answered.

"No. Don't send the Legionnaires. In fact, don't tell Lien-Da that anything is going on. Put the base on lock down and ready all Eggbots. I think I'm going to welcome him myself." I said. I got out of my chair and began to walk towards the exit.

"Okay then, would you mind filling me in on your master plan?" Orbot said. He and Cubot followed me as I walked out of the room and down the hall.

"That Hedgehog was in the area where the energy fluctuation happened, which means he either caused it himself or knows what did. If I could get my hands on that power then I would be able to have some fun!" I said. We continued to walk down the hall of the Death Egg into the elevator. I pressed the button for the floor I needed and we began to descend.

"Well that's a great plan, except for one problem. How do you plan on getting him to cooperate?" Orbot asked.

"The lads got a point. Ya did just send some robots after him. I think he may not be quite in a good mood witcha. Cubot chimed in.

"Well I obviously don't expect him to cooperate willingly." I said. The elevator door opened up to the robot hanger and I stepped inside. I walked around until I found the thing I was looking for.

"This is how I plan on beating him." I said. I looked at the robot and smiled wide.

"Well, it looks nice, except for the fact that it isn't finished." Orbot said.

"Bah, it just needs a couple things but for now it should serve my purpose." I said. I studied the robot and examined its parts.

"I was saving this one for Shadow the next time I ran into him, but it will do." I said. I looked down at Orbot and gave him an order.

"Hand me my Omni-Tool and prepare the Eggmobile." I said. Orbot scrambled around and then gave me what I had asked for. Orbot then backed off and began to leave.

"We'll bring her around the front once your done fixing it up." He said.

"Good, in the mean time just keep the Hedgehog busy with whatever bots we have. Don't kill him though, this one I need alive." I said. Orbot and Cubot left and I focused on my work. I thought about the energy I had detected and smiled as I fixed the robot.

"A new piece has stepped onto the board. Let's see just what he has to offer." I said to myself. I smiled as I continued to work on the robot and get him ready for the fight to come.


	3. Chapter 2: Confrontation

_Hello to all of the readers out there, just a little update before you begin reading the new chapter. Its been so long since I have posted a continuation for the story at hand. Its been too long and I apologize for the wait. Dealing with Thanksgiving and final exams at college just put me under a lot of stress and forced me to nearly eliminate my free time. Between studying, holiday stuff, hanging with friends, finishing projects that I never started, and work, I have just not put a lot of time into writing and that is something that I regret. My goal is to try and put out at least one chapter every other week, but I don't know how that will turn out. With being on break from college for a bit I should be able to do that much at least. Also I didn't completely stop writing in the time since I last uploaded. I was working on a little project for my friend because his birthday was coming up. He asked me to write him a story and I immediately thought up what I should give him. I took a while to write that, and I have that story all typed up and formatted on my computer. If anyone is interested in reading the skit that I made for him just let me know and I'll get around to uploading it. Leave me a message on any errors that you can point out or things that sound weird in your head. Thank you for reading and have a happy holiday._

 _Ash_

A bullet whizzed by me as I ran through a bush. Robots had been attacking me ever since I had set food in this place, wherever it was. After less than a minute of following the robots tracks, more appeared and began to shoot at me. The first group that appeared was a group of roughly ten robots that were just like the other ones. I dealt with them quickly enough, but then more appeared and began to surround me. Even though I could destroy them quickly, getting surrounded was never a good idea. Even if I did decide to go against the odds and fight them all, there were too many unknowns to take into account. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know how many enemies there were, I didn't know who was attacking me, and I didn't know if there were any stronger robots coming after me. The list of things that I didn't know continued almost infinitely. The less I knew the more of a disadvantage I was at when fighting, or doing anything really. I wasn't about to let my ignorance be my downfall on this strange new world. Once I figured out who sent the robots and why then maybe I could begin to figure out a strategy to deal with them. After I decided that running past them was the best idea is when it truly became chaos. Robots appeared out of every place imaginable and chased me as I ran through the forest. Since I wasn't destroying them the numbers kept piling up, and pretty soon I had an army of robots chasing after me. The most troublesome thing was that after a few minutes I began to notice some different robots chasing me. The first type was easy to destroy and evade their attacks, however I didn't know the capabilities of the other ones. Some of the robots flew while others ran. There were ones that were bigger than others and ones that were smaller. They were all different to each other in some way and I could imagine that they would also fight differently as well. This was especially bad news for me considering the fact that if I messed up against one than the others would most certainly kill me on the spot. I had to figure out how they worked and how to fight them before I could come up with a plan of winning. I ducked my head to the left and a bullet flew by and grazed my quills. I sneered in annoyance as I felt where it had touched. I was trying to think of too many things while I was still under attack. If I was distracted then I would slip up and get shot. I needed to focus more on staying alive and less on everything else. I had a lot to do and I would be damned if carelessness got the best of me. I continued to run through the woods but now more careful to dodge the incoming fire. I saw a gap in the trees and ran right towards it.

I entered the clearing and immediately stopped running. I skidded to a halt and looked at the sight before me. Several hundred yards ahead of me was a structure the likes of which I had never seen. It was a large shinny dome that was well over thirty feet high. It was a greyish blue color that had some sort of insignia on it. The design looked like some kind of smiling skull with red spikes sticking out on either side. I didn't know what it meant, but at the moment I didn't have enough time to think about it. The structure was blocking my path and I didn't have anywhere else to run. The robots that had been chasing me began to appear from behind the trees that surrounded me on all sides. I was about to be cornered and that meant that I was about to be killed. I looked around on either side for an opening to slip past them but I didn't find any. As more and more emerged I realized that I was quickly running out of options. Suddenly, and idea formed in my head and I quickly made a plan. I took off running towards the structure that was directly ahead of me. If I ran fast enough then I would just run up and over it and hopefully lose the robots. I was gaining speed as I raced towards the structure and prepared to run over it. I turned around and took a quick look at the robots that had followed me here. They were standing there with their guns aimed at me but not firing. I was wondering why they stopped when some movement caught my attention. I turned my head back around and then quickly slid to a stop. The structure in front of me was moving and changing its shape. Surprised, I stood there and watched as the structure moved and revealed its secrets to me. All over small panels moved aside and showed holes in the dome. Out of those holes guns, rockets, and other weapons appeared and aimed their sights on me. I snarled in anger as I watched the transformation unfold. The structure was an enemy as well, and it was armed much more heavily than the robots were. I listened as the robots behind me grew closer and I thought about trying to take the dome head on. That notion died when I saw several large panels of the dome move away to reveal even more robots inside. The robots ran out of the structure and aimed their weapons on me as well. I stood there surrounded on all sides by the robots that had been attacking me ever since I got here. They were all focused on me, and so were the weapons that were jutting out of the dome.

As I stood there, I suddenly had an epiphany. I was running towards where the robots had come from, and they had led me here. I looked at the dome in front of me and finally made the mental connection. This is where the robots had come from. This is what I was running towards the whole time and it was also the thing that was trying to kill me. I had been so caught up in running, dodging, and thinking about other things that I had completely forgotten why I started running this way in the first place. I mentally berated myself as I realized my mistake. I was too unfocused. The nature, the beauty, the location, the robots, my plans, I was too distracted by all of these different things to notice the big picture. I was just so busy thinking about all of these different things that I completely lost track of what mattered most, my survival. The only way that I was going to have any hope of getting out of this alive was if I stopped thinking about everything so much and focused entirely on how I was going to survive. I held up my arms and took in a breath as I gauged the situation that I was in. I was surrounded at least two hundred to one by mechanical robots that could neither feel pain nor fear. They were all armed with guns and various other weapons that were both fast and deadly. I was completely surrounded on every side with no gaps in any direction. I also had a large building in front of me that was also adorned with many different weapons, all of which were trained on me. The building was also the source of where the robots were coming from which meant that there were probably even more robots inside. To top the whole situation off I had no idea where I was and this is where the robots came from, so they knew the terrain much better than I did. I was extremely annoyed that I had allowed myself to get caught up in such a mess less than an hour after I got here. All of my planning and preparation went to waste because I didn't take the time to think clearly. I wanted to find out who was attacking me and why, but right now that didn't matter that much. I began to think about how to escape when I thought of something else.

 _"No, I should care about who sent these. I should care about my plans and how I am going to enact them once I am done."_ I thought. A lesson that I had learned long ago reared its head in my mind and gave me a sense of clarity that I had previously lost. I have been thinking about how they are going to kill me, about how I am going to die. His voice popped into my mind and I remembered his words.

"As soon as you begin to wonder how you are going to die is when you give up all chance of staying alive. You mustn't ask how you are going to survive, but rather, what are you going to do when you survive."

An old friend had told me this a long time ago, and right now it was exactly what I needed to remember. I needed to focus purely on survival, and not the alternative. Death wasn't an option, and I wasn't about to let myself die for no reason. My mind returned to the present and I began to think of a solution. If I could get them to shoot at each other, the gun turrets at the robots, then that might create enough chaos for me to escape. Even if it didn't, I was fast enough to outrun their bullets before. Just because I had a lot more of them shooting at me didn't change the fact that I was faster and stronger than they were. Even if either of those two plans failed, I still had my backups. I thought of plan upon plan until I was sure that there was no possible way for me to die here. I had hundreds of different options at my disposal. Even though I didn't want to, I always had a few special tricks up my sleeve. I touched the rings that I had on my right and left wrists. Before I got here I was determined to not use these unless the situation was absolutely dire. I also wanted to save my other powers as secret weapons but now I realized that on this world I may end up needing to use them as much as my hands and feet. My mind was calm and my thoughts were collected as I took in the horde in front of me. Only a few seconds had passed in real time but in my mind I had spent nearly an hour thinking, reasoning, and plotting every move I could make. One thing that surprised me was that in the few seconds that I had sped up my mind the robots and dome weapons hadn't fired upon me. Still, I had no doubt that I was about to be engulfed in a maelstrom of bullets and fire. I turned away from the dome and crouched down. I took a running stance and waited for the guns to being to open fire on me so I could enact my plan of attack. I tensed up my muscles and prepared to take off the moment they began to fire. One second passed and I could feel the tension in my arms and legs grow. Another second passed and I was looking for the slightest hint of firing. Another second passed, and then another, and another, and another. Nearly five long seconds later I relaxed my muscles and stood straight up. All of the robots were aiming at me, and so was the dome that was now to my back. I looked around at the robots and wondered what was going on. They had been shooting me all this time and now that I was surrounded they stopped. There had to be some sort of reason for this behavior, and the more I thought about the alternatives, the more worried I became. A flashback of a wooden cage surfaced in my mind. The feeling of knives cutting into my flesh and spears constantly stabbing me became all too clear. I shivered as I remembered the pain and hopelessness that I had felt so long ago. I took in a breath and calmed myself. I would never let myself be captured like that again, no matter what. I pushed the memory aside and returned to the present. I was surrounded by enemies that weren't attacking me. They must want me alive for something, and if it was what I feared then I would destroy them all before they even get the chance. Suddenly I heard a noise that I had never heard before. I didn't know what it was, but I could tell that it was directly above me. I turned my head towards the sky to look at what was making it when I heard a person speak to me.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here." The person said in a condescending manor. I looked up at the sky and saw a circular flying device hovering above me. The device was the source of the mysterious sound that I was hearing, and also the source of the voice I heard. The device flew in front of the dome and then began to fly lower until I could see it fully. The device looked like some kind of large fancy chair, and on the chair sat a very large creature that looked stranger than nearly anything I had seen before. I examined the creature for just a moment in order to try and learn what I could. I wasn't exactly sure whether it was male or female, but judging from its voice I would assume that it was male. The man was bald and didn't have any fur or hair except for a large red mustache. He was bulbous and dressed in a red coat that had many different zippers and buttons on it. He wore white gloves and black pants and smiled maliciously at me as he sat on the flying chair and looked down at me. On his head he had an object that jutted out like a set of horns. I could see that they were made of metal and therefore not a physical part of him. His eyes were wide and were very reflective. I stared at them for a moment before I realized that they weren't eyes. What I had though were large reflective eyes were actually pieces of glass that he had in front of his eyes. I remembered that I had met someone once who also used glass like that before. The word glasses appeared in my mind and I knew that it was what they were called. They were meant to be used in order to help people with poor vision see. Perhaps his species was naturally poor of sight. I took it all in as he spoke up once again.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I am being a terrible host. I don't believe I have had the pleasure to make your acquaintance yet. I am Doctor Eggman, and you are the pest who just showed up on my base and started destroying my robots!" He shouted.

" _So he's the source of the robots."_ I thought to myself. If he was the source of the robots, and was also the one that built the dome, then he was surely a force to be reckoned with. I thought about that as he continued to speak.

"So tell me, just who do you think you are to come here all alone and try to disrupt my plans Hmm?" He finished.

I thought about what had happened, everything that he had said, and everything that I knew about this place. What I knew was that I had transported myself into the middle of a forest on a planet that I knew virtually nothing about. I was then attacked by his robots, but maybe I was the one who was wrong. He called this place his base which meant that it belonged to him. I didn't know whether he actually owned this area, but if he did then I was intruding on his property. If that was the case then even though in my mind I didn't do anything wrong, he might view me as an enemy who came here to steal from him or attack. I didn't know how things worked around here or who was in charge of what, but the probability that I was in the wrong was much higher than the probability that he had attacked me for no reason. I decided that I would try to negotiate my way out of this situation without any more conflict. If he was in any way reasonable then perhaps I could get off with only a few cuts and bruises. If things went well, I might even be able to make an ally. I cleared my mind and focused on putting on the facade that I wanted him to see. I mentally adjusted my tone and attitude into a more pleasant and friendly way. I would do my best to talk him over and see if I could even get his help, but if all else failed then I would make him regret the day he made me his enemy...

"First of all, let me begin by saying that it's an honor to meet you Doctor." I said with a smile, his expression turned from one of confidence to one of concern.

"You're saying it's an honor to meet me... And why exactly would that be?" He suspiciously asked. I continued to smile as I thought out my strategy. From his tone of voice and attitude he showed when he first spoke, I could tell that he viewed himself in high regard. A few compliments would get me far with him. I held my arms out in gesture to the robots all around.

"Why, just look at the army that is surrounding me. Anyone who commands such a force is deserving of honor in my opinion." I said. He continued to frown at me as he replied.

"Bah! This isn't even a trifle of power of the Eggman Empire. I have commanded forces that were hundreds of times this size!" He said. I gave no sign of worry as I replied to his comment.

"Then that is even more spectacular than I could have imagined. You know what they say about people with power." I said. He moved his flying chair closer to me and I got a much more detailed look at him. He was several feet away as he stared at me curiously.

"And what do they say about people with power?" He asked. I smiled even wider as I replied.

"They're the only people worth following." I said. He smiled wide in response and I smiled back. Everything was going according to plan and that was good news for me. Eggman moved his chair back a few feet and continued to smile at me.

"Right you are. The people who have power are the only people that matter in the end." He said. I smiled both outside and in as I took in his words. This person may have had a robot army at his command, but that didn't matter if I could control him with my words. I didn't know whether I would be able to or not but so far all of my methods were working fine. First I had opened up with a compliment towards him and his army. Even though he didn't take it at first I kept the praise coming and he eventually opened up. Then I tried to juice him for information. Based off of how he spoke and the situation I was in I made a general statement that I allowed him to interpret. After I studied his response, I followed up by saying something that I calculated would have a positive effect on him. The more we spoke the more I learned about him and how to best talk him into giving me what I wanted. These are the basics of manipulation and it was something that I had studied for a long time in order to master. This Eggman may have been of a species that I had never seen before, but I could read him like a book and get exactly what I wanted. I thought of my next words carefully before I said them.

"Well I don't think that is quite true. After all, how can you feed a glorious fire without chopping up and throwing in all the pieces of wood lying around." I said. Eggman began to stroke his mustache as he smile even wider.

"Heh, good point." He said. I nodded my head in response and spoke again.

"I'm sorry, you told me who you are but I don't believe I have introduced myself yet." I said. I bowed to him as I continued.

"My name is Ash, and I'm new around here." I said. I stood up and looked at him after I was done bowing. Eggman was stroking his chin with his right had as he looked at me inquisitively.

"Hmm, interesting. And just where exactly did you come from?" He asked. I thought of an answer that wouldn't give too much away.

"From somewhere very different than this place." I said. I could tell that my answer didn't satisfy him so I decided to change the subject.

"As for my intrusion, I apologize for destroying your robots. I didn't know that I was on your base, and I didn't know that they were yours." I said. I hoped that if I apologized then perhaps he would forgive me. If he didn't then I would have to think about my next words very carefully. Eggman began to smile devilishly at me as he replied.

"Well that is very unfortunate. You see, even though you didn't know that they were my robots, you destroyed them all the same, and no one destroys my stuff and gets away with it." He said. I knew what was about to happen but I decided to keep up my guise.

"And what do you plan on doing?" I asked. He looked genuinely happy as he responded.

"I'm going to kill you of course! Surly people do that where you come from!" He said. He took a quick look around himself and then gestured to all the robots that surrounded me.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered, outgunned and on my turf. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." He said. I didn't let him see my concern. I closed my eyes and shrugged while giving a close lipped smile.

"Oh come now. Do you honestly think these many robots will kill me? The only reason I ran from them was because I wanted to find you, the man who sent them. I could destroy all these robots without breaking a sweat." I said. It was true that I could do that, but only because I had lived in the desert and nearly never sweat. I was indeed worried about the robots but only because I didn't know all of their capabilities. Ignorance was what I truly feared, because ignorance has the power to defeat anyone. I didn't know what all of the other robots could do, or what the dome could for that matter. All of the unknowns put me at such a disadvantage that I really wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible. However, I had defeated the first few robots with ease, and if the rest were like them then I didn't have anything to fear at all. I could in fact destroy them all with ease if this was all he had, but he probably had more. I decided to keep on talking to see if I could get anywhere with him.

"Besides, you look more like a man of opportunity then someone who destroys without getting something in return. And I have an opportunity for you, if you're interested?" I said. Eggman moved his chair closer towards me again. This time he continued to advance until he was just over one foot away from me. The grin on his face was easy to see and I could tell that I had piqued his interests.

"Go on..." He said. I continued to smile and give off a friendly demeanor.

"It just so happens that I have been looking for a way to get ahead in the world, advance my ranking as it were. You look like someone who is on your way to the top, and I want to know if I could tag along for the ride." I said. I widened my smile and put all my effort into getting my message across.

"I want to have power, and you're just the man to give it to me. If I worked for you, then I could help myself by helping you get to the top and take over the world. What do you say, do you think you could use some more muscle in your army?" I asked. He smiled even wider as he listened to my speech. I made sure to smile nearly as wide and with just as much joy as he had. I had won, chosen my words carefully, made sure to word them right, and give him exactly what he wanted. He stroked his mustache as he replied.

"Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea." He said. I smiled in response as I held out my hand to him.

"Well then, it will be nice working for you Doctor." I said. I would work for and learn from him and do whatever he asked me to do. I've done it before and if it meant getting ahead then I would gladly do it again. I didn't mind stooping down to work for someone else, as long as I got what I wanted in the end. If he turned out to get in my way then I would do whatever to ensure complete victory. I waited for him to shake my hand, but instead he sat there in his chair that hovered off of the ground. After a few more seconds I looked at him for an answer and saw that he was still smiling just as maliciously.

"Yes it sounds like a wonderful idea, but unfortunately for you, I have a strict no hedgehog policy that I plan to uphold." He said. I took my arm back as he began to fly away. I let my guise drop and replaced my friendless with my usual expressionless tone.

"Besides, I'm already working with less than as many Mobians as I can stomach. I would much rather work with more robots instead." He said. I clenched my fists as I looked at Eggman. I knew that it probably wouldn't do any good but I decided to try talking to him one last time.

"So you won't let me join, even though I offered to work under you?" I asked. Eggman answered in a bland tone of voice.

"Oh come on. Did you really think I wouldn't notice what you were doing? I am the king of manipulation and I certainly know it when I see it. You did a good job of hiding it I'll admit that, but you were just planning on betraying me as soon as I got in the way of your plans." He said. I scowled at him as he continued to speak.

"I don't need another Mobian working for me, and I certainly don't need another Shadow to happen." He said. The way he worded that caught my attention and I immediately thought about what he meant. He said Shadow like he would a person's name, like someone he didn't like. If I reacted to his name then Eggman would know that I knew him, but since we were about to fight it didn't really matter to much if he did. If Eggman could tell me where Shadow was then that would make my job much easier. I looked up at Eggman and decided to risk it.

"You said Shadow, as in Shadow the Hedgehog?" I asked him. Eggman looked surprised by my remark. He floated a little closer to me and leaned forwards in his chair.

"Oh, so you know him then?" He asked in a light tone. My thoughts turned to Shadow and the time we had spent together. As I stood there surrounded by robots I began to remember the first night we had met, the first night we spent together, and the first night of my decent into hell.

The Past

The fire crackled as I watched the flames dance above the firewood. The flame cast shadows on the desert sand that danced around jumped from place to place. I watched the flames as the wood burned and gave me warmth and comfort. Shadow threw a piece of wood into the fire and it disappeared amongst the other pieces of wood we had gathered. I thought about my situation for the first time we had left. I was sitting on a piece of wood in the middle of nowhere with a strange man sitting across from me who I had only just met. Never could I have imagined that this is what would happen to me. As much as I hoped and prayed I never thought that I would actually survive, let alone find someone else. Now I was alive and well and wondering just what would happen next. The word prayer stuck in my mind and I began to think about it. On the first day I was alone I spent the entire day trying to dig through the rubble that had trapped my parents. It wasn't until the third day that I had begun to pray that they survived. I didn't exactly know what praying was, or how it helped, but my mom used to do it all the time and she always told me to do it. Praying was kind of like wishing, but if you prayed enough then eventually your wishes would come true. She prayed for things like more food and water, and supplies when we needed them. She also said that she prayed prayers of thanks whenever we found anything of value. I don't know how it worked but praying was supposed to help us get what we wanted. I had done exactly what my mother had taught me and I closed my eyes. I bowed my head to the ground like my mom had taught me and I had prayed and prayed for hours that they would come back and that everything would be alright. After the fourth day I gave up on praying and instead focused on trying to survive. I did what I could, but in the end I was dying and there was nothing I could do. I tried praying, and then I had tried surviving. Surviving ended up keeping me alive longer, but unlike praying I wasn't very good at it. How I survived I don't think I'll ever know. The only thing that I was sure of, was that I needed to get better at surviving. I broke away from my thoughts and looked over at the man who saved me. He sat there with his cloak in a pile to his left and with his backpack on his right. He was jabbing the fire with a long piece of wood and every now and again I would see sparks fly up and disappear.

After we had spent hours walking through the desert it started to get dark, he stopped and suggested that we build a fire. I followed him as he walked over to a patch of small buildings that were nearby. As we walked I looked at each of the buildings and remembered that my parents had gone there in order to look for supplies. They had told me that they hadn't found anything of interest and that no one was there. I asked Shadow why we didn't stay in the buildings but he responded by giving me a strange look and telling me that he didn't want to bother the ghosts. I continued to walk with him but after a few minutes I began to feel like I was being watched. I thought that maybe there was something other than ghosts living in those buildings. The sun was much lower in the sky before Shadow had found enough kindling to make a fire that would last a while. He carried the wood away from the buildings and placed some of it in a pile. He started the fire and we had sat around it in silence since. Even though there wasn't much else to do, I didn't want to break the silence between us. I hadn't spoken much since I lost my parents, and even though I wanted to talk to someone, I was scared that if I started to then he would leave me. I spent most of my time on my own either surviving or thinking about my life. I wanted to talk to him, to say something, but instead I decided to simply think some more now that I had something to think about. I took my eyes away from him and looked up at the night's sky. I had seen them all before, many times over, but I still enjoyed looking at them. To me the stars were the light that was always within the deepest darkness. My parents used to tell me that within all evil, wherever there was darkness or pain, there would always be a tiny light inside, a light called hope. I didn't know how much I believed that anymore. The only hope I had left, was that I would continue to survive, and perhaps, begin to live.

I looked back down and noticed Shadow staring at me over the campfire that he had built. His expression was cold, and angry looking as he stared at me with the fire reflecting in his eyes. I looked back at him and wondered what he wanted. He reached over and grabbed his backpack that was laying at his side. He pulled it onto his lap and opened it up and pulled something out. It was hard to see what it was in the dark, but when he moved it closer to the fire I could see that it was bread.

"Hungry?" He asked. Shadow held the bread in his hands and I stared at it all the while. I licked my lips without thinking about it and then realized what I did. I looked down at the ground as I replied to him.

"I'll live." I said. Earlier in the day I had collapsed because of how hungry I was. Shadow gave me some of his food and a little more water to wash it down. I knew that I shouldn't take more than I needed. It was his water and his food, he deserved it much more than me. I was grateful that he had decided to save me in the first place. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't a burden and that I didn't take without asking. I thought about the bread and how good it tasted as I looked down at the ground. Before I knew it, a shadow was looming over me and blocking the fire from view. I looked up and saw him standing there as he held the bread and the water canister out to me. I didn't know what to do, so I didn't do anything. Another moment passed and then he pressed the bread and water into my hands before he walked away and sat down on the other side of the fire. I looked at the objects in my hands and then at Shadow who still looked angry because of the fire light.

"I can go a while without any food." He said. I began to protest until I heard the rest. "Eat what you want, and don't complain about it." He said. I closed my mouth and looked down at the food in front of me. I tore off bits and pieces of bread and eagerly shoved them into my mouth. Before I knew it I had eaten it all and was left with only the water container. I took a few gulps full and then I closed the cap and held it at my side. It was alright for me to eat the bread since he told me to, but I knew better than to drink all the water without a second thought. I looked over across the fire and at Shadow who had been watching me the whole time.

"We haven't talked much." he said in that low, flat voice of his, "I have a couple questions I want to ask you." I pulled my legs up and hugged myself in order to keep warm. I continued to stare at him and wait for whatever questions he wanted to ask me.

"Do you know how to defend yourself?" He asked. I gave him a puzzling look and didn't respond. I didn't exactly know what he meant so I wasn't sure of how to respond. I continued to look at him until he seemed to understand why I didn't reply.

"Have you ever been in a fight?" He asked. I felt a pain in my head as I remembered something. It felt like the memory had crashed into my skull and was taking up too much room. At first I remembered smells and sounds, and then colors and feelings. An image of a face appeared in my mind and I immediately wanted to throw up. I didn't want to remember, I didn't want to, but when I looked at Shadow and saw his face in the darkness I was compelled to tell him the truth. I looked at him and nodded in response. He continued.

"Who did you fight with?" He asked. I wanted him to stop asking questions, or to ask about something else, but I didn't know how to avoid this conversation, and I knew that I didn't want to lie.

"I don't know." I responded.

"What do you mean you don't know?" He asked with curiosity in his voice. I saw his face in my mind and the smell of his breath as he breathed on me. I swallowed and forced the bile down my throat. I had just eaten food and there was no way that I was going to throw it up.

"I didn't know who he was." I answered.

"How did the fight turn out?" He asked. I remembered his face in front of mine, his hands as he held me down, the fear of what would come next, and then the blood...

I took a moment to collect myself and then I answered in a tone I never thought I could make.

"I killed him." I said.

Shadow looked at me with surprise and disbelief clear in his face. He continued to look at me like that as he tried to figure out whether I was lying or telling the truth. After a few moments he began to talk again.

"How old are you?" He asked. I had to think about his question before I came up with a response, and that was a good thing. I tried to block the memory from my mind and instead figure out how old I am. My birthday was something my parents had always said was important, but dates didn't mean much to them. They knew how old I was based off of how many times them moon went from dark to light. It had been a while now, and I remembered that my parents said my birthday was going to be soon. I began to draw lines in the sand with my foot. After I had drawn enough I looked at him and spoke.

"This is how old I will be in a few days." I said. His eyes widened in response to my answer. The look of surprise on his face was clear.

"You're that old. Are you sure?" He asked. I looked at him and nodded as he continued to stare at me disbelieving. I didn't understand why he was so surprised, so I thought about it for a moment. Maybe people who were as young as me wouldn't have survived for as long as I have. Even though I nearly died I had still managed to hang on to life, and do whatever it took to survive. He continued to look at me in that way for a little bit longer. Finally, his expression changed and he began to look more serious than astounded. He began to ask me more questions.

"And how long ago was it that you fought this person?" He asked.

"Three days before I met you." I answered. He thought about my response in silence for a minute. After that he asked me some more questions.

"So this was right after your parents died then, just a few days ago." He said. I didn't respond but instead stared at him blankly. I didn't want to keep talking about this, I wanted him to stop, but he kept asking me questions and the memory kept returning to my mind.

"How did you kill him?" He asked. I began to picture it in my mind and I immediately tried to think about something else. I didn't want to remember that, I didn't want to talk anymore. All I wanted to do was sit near the fire and forget about what had happened. I looked at Shadow and decided to tell him.

"I... I don't want to talk about his anymore." I said. I pulled my feet up closer and I looked towards the ground. I wanted to forget, I wanted to so badly. Whenever I thought about it I began to feel sick, and cold, and scared of what happened. It wasn't like anything else that I had done before. It was the worst thing that I had ever felt and I never wanted to feel it again. When I looked up I saw Shadow as he continued to stare at me from across the fire. His eyes were unrelenting, and when I looked at him I immediately wanted to look away. I looked back to the ground and stared at the sand for a moment before I heard him speak.

"I want to know how you killed him." He said. I took in a sharp breath and exhaled just as quickly.

"I don't want to talk anymore." I said. I wanted him to stop asking me questions. I wanted him to understand how much those memories hurt me. I wanted someone to hug me and tell me everything was going to be alright. I wanted those things, but I knew that none of them would happen. Shadow quickly stood up and I watched as he did. He walked around the fire and stood directly in front of me. I looked up at him and felt a fear that I hadn't felt in what seemed like ages. He stood there and stared as he spoke again.

"Tell me how." He commanded. I forced down the saliva that had been building up in my mouth. I didn't want to think about it, but I was too scared of Shadow to not do what I was told. I thought back to the day and began to recall everything that had happened. Once I could imagine it clearly, I began to describe it to him.

"There was a man, who was big and covered in fur. I didn't know who he was, or why he was there, but I thought that maybe he could help." I said. I began to rock back and forth as I continued to describe what happened next.

"My parents were buried under a building, and I was too weak to dig them out. I thought that he could help me, that maybe I could save my parents." I said. I didn't know when, but I had started to rock faster the more I spoke. Everything that I described to Shadow I remembered exactly as it happened.

"I walked up to him, and begged him to help me, but when he saw me he got a strange look in his eye." I said. I realized that I was breathing faster now, but I continued on.

"He said that he didn't want to help me, and that he wanted something else instead..." I rocked in silence for a few moments as I gathered my voice.

"He grabbed my arms, and then he pushed me down. He got on top of me, and he held me beneath him. And then his moved his face closer to mine, and I could smell his breath, and then smiled and laughed, and then, and then, and then..." I repeated. I could feel the tears as they formed in my eyes. I remembered what happened next in vivid detail.

"There was blood, so much blood. It was everywhere, and he wasn't anywhere, but he was. There was fur, and bones, and body parts, and blood, and I was covered in it, and all I could see was red, and then I ran to the house and covered myself in Ashes, so that I could get the blood out. I scrubbed, and scrubbed, until I couldn't see the blood anymore. And then I cried, and then I laid there, and I remembered, and felt, and I did nothing..." I said. I was rocking back and forth and breathing really fast. I was crying and hugging myself as I stared into the fire. The worst part was the blood, all of the blood that was everywhere. Even now I could smell it, smell it on the sand, on the bricks, on my skin. I continued to rock in silence as I forgot about the memory. I told him everything, so there wasn't a reason to remember it anymore. After a while I looked up at Shadow who was still standing in front of me. He stood there and looked down at me but no longer with that scary face he had. In his eyes I saw something that I had never seen before in anyone else. I had never seen it, but I knew what it was just by looking. Even though he wasn't crying, even though he was breathing normally, I could tell that he was sad after hearing my story. He looked at me silently with his sad eyes and we stared at each other in silence as the fire crackled behind us.

"It must have been hard on you, losing your parents, trying to survive, killing another person." He said. I looked down at the ground and avoided his gaze. I looked at his shoes but didn't focus on him as I listened to the rest of his words.

"What you went through was horrible, but it is far from the worst I have seen." He said. I felt a change in his tone so I looked back up at him. The sorrow in his eyes were gone and instead replaced by a cold emotionless expression that made him look like he was dead inside.

"This world is harsh, and it doesn't have any room for the weak. The truth is that what you have gone through is only the beginning, and in the end you will probably have to kill many more people in order to survive." He said. The smell of blood filled my nostrils as I thought about killing someone else. It was hard enough killing one person, but I couldn't imagine needing or wanting to kill more. I looked into his eyes and saw no emotion in them. It looked like it had all drained away in the time that he had lived. I continued to stare at him as he talked some more.

"You need to learn how to fight in order to survive. If you don't know how to defend yourself when I leave you, then you'll be defenseless and die without a purpose." He said. I didn't know what I had thought before, what would happen between us, but him telling me that he would leave me filled me with a sense of loneliness, and sorrow. When he was gone it would just be me, by myself, alone. I didn't want it to be that way, I wanted him to stay with me. I wanted him to say that he would stay, but I knew that he wouldn't. I didn't want to fight, I didn't want him to leave, and I didn't want to kill anyone. Everything that I had ever known before was gone, and I had no idea what would happen to me from here. I was sad, and scared, and tired, of everything that had happened. I let those emotions fill me with their presence, but then I began to feel something else. Admits all of the negative, dark emotions that were clouding my mind, I began to feel something else gradually replace them. At first I didn't know what it was, but after a while I finally figured it out. It was peace. I may not have known what was going to happen to me, or what else I would have to do, but I did know something that would come to pass. Shadow would leave me, and then I would be on my own. It wasn't the thought of being on my own that brought the sense of peace, but rather knowing something that was real, knowing something that would happen without a doubt, knowing something that was completely true. I felt much more calm as I focused on the truth.

"Okay," I said in a low voice. I may not have known what would happen next, but it didn't matter as much right now. I would train with Shadow, and then I would be able to survive on my own, and that gave me just a little bit of peace as well. Shadow began to walk towards me. He walked over and then sat down on my left side. Before I knew it, he put his right arm around me and held me there. I could feel the heat of his body near mine, the beat of his heart, the closeness of him to me. For the first time since my parents had died I had felt safe, I had felt secure. This single motion had comforted me, and calmed me in a way I didn't know possible. It was like how my father used to hold me when I was scared or unsure. I moved my head and looked up at Shadow as he held me with his arm.

"Lesson one." He said. He moved his arm quickly and punched me in the face. I was knocked off of the log and thrown unto the sand. My head was spinning and I saw images floating around me. I moved my hand to my face and felt blood coming out of my nose. I looked at his cold, emotionless face with astonishment and fear in my eyes.

"Never let your guard down." He said. He moved back to the log he was sitting on and he laid down next to it, close to the fire in order to keep himself warm. I sat there in the sand, bleeding from my nose as the first of our many nights together ended and turned to day.

Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 3: The Beginning of the End

**Hello to all the readers out there. Man, it sure has been a calm winter, at least for me. With all the time I had over December to write my story, I was able to get it out early for you all. I mean, its only** _(Looks at the date)..._ **Oh... Ooooh. Okay, so maybe I'm a bit late. I mean, four months isn't that much right?** _(Nervous laughing)_ **Alright so maybe I took a bit of my time getting this done, but its for a perfectly valid reason, I SWEAR! It just I ugh... Was doing laundry... For four months... Okay so I don't have an excuse, but I do hope that you enjoy the chapter that finally came out.**

Time: The Present

Place: Eggbase Alpha

 _Ash_

I came out of my memory and looked up at Eggman. I needed to find Shadow so that I could get some help. Since the doctor seemed to know Shadow, then he could lead me to where he is. All I had to do was get him to talk. Eggman would tell me where he was, the only question was whether he would do so willingly.

"Shadow is an old friend of mine, as well as who I am looking for." I said. "If you tell me where he is or how to find him then I'll leave you in peace."

Eggman twirled his mustache on his finger as he smiled at me. I could tell by his face what his answer would be.

"So after first lying to me and then trying to deceive me, you are now threatening me in order to get what you want?" He asked. He let out a chuckle before he continued.

"Ha! You got spunk, and normally I would appreciate that. Unfortunately for you, when someone tries to get one over on me it always backfires on them." He said. His floating chair flew up higher into the sky and I could hardly make out his figure against the sun.

"Any last words?" He shouted at me. I knew what he was about to do, and that I should have been running, but I needed to respond to him.

"I didn't lie to you." I called back. I could tell that he heard me, but he didn't respond. Instead he held up one hand and snapped his fingers. At once, all of the robots began to shoot at me and I knew that I needed to move. I dove towards the ground and ran with my face nearly pressed against the dirt. I began to run at the building in front of me as a storm of bullets, lasers, and rockets assaulted me from every direction. They were coming from both the robots and the dome. If I had moved any slower than I would have already been killed. I weaved in and out and managed to not get hit. I made it roughly thirty feet before I felt a bullet scrape against my leg, and felt a beam of energy hit my shoulder. I winced as I felt them graze me. I continued to move but now with an injury on one leg. I may have been faster, but there were too many to dodge all of them. Or rather, I simply wasn't moving fast enough. I moved my head to the side and another bullet put a deep cut on my cheek. I was being sloppy and getting punished because of it. Every step that I took sent pain signals to my brain. My leg didn't want to move and neither did my arm. From every wound I felt a hot searing pain that grew worse the more time passed. Being shot in the leg would normally force someone to go more slowly, or not walk at all. However this wound was just a graze, and even if it wasn't it wouldn't have been enough to slow me down. I learned to ignore the pain a long time ago and to keep going on when injured. The only problem was that even though I pushed on, I could feel myself moving more slowly. If they kept firing at me from all directions then I would be dead.

I kept running and dodged what I could. I had reached the building in what felt like hours but in reality was actually less than a second. I continued to run forwards until I was moving up the building. The robots on the ground fired at me as I ran by all the turrets on the dome. One by one the turrets exploded as I passed by them. I could feel the shock waves that the explosions were producing as I maneuvered around and dodged the incoming fire. After a few moments all of the turrets were destroyed which only left the robots on the ground. I jumped off of the dome and headfirst into the swarm of robots below. I spun my way through some while I kicked and punched others. I dealt with each robot as quickly as possible in order to remove their advantage in numbers. I spun through the bodies of five robots and rendered them all useless. As I came out of the fifth one, I turned around and kicked another in the chest. The force of my kick sent it flying into another group of them which all exploded. Several dozen were shooting me from my left side while four robots came in for close range combat. One was holding a spear like object as it charged at me. I grabbed the spear and used it to hold the robot in the air before I threw him around and knocked away all of the robots around me. As soon as they were destroyed I began to run along the ground and dodge the bullets that were coming from my left. I veered left and right as I made my way towards the robots that were firing at me, and as soon as I got in range I quickly fought and destroyed them. All of the robots were weak, and none of them were able to resist my attacks. The more I fought the more confident I grew in my own ability, as well as the abilities of my enemy. The robots were much less intimidating then I first took them for, and as I spun my way through a group of ten I took a second to survey my surroundings. I was still surrounded by dozens of robots but I had begun to clear them away. It wouldn't take much more for me to finish them off. I heard Eggman yell something from behind me.

"You can deal with the Egg swats well enough, but let's see how you handle this!" He shouted. I turned around just in time to see a giant metal hand as it punched me away. I could feel its impact in my bones as I was blown away by the force of the punch. I hit the ground and rolled over while still disoriented. I looked over at what had hit me and felt my confidence shrink. Standing next to Eggman was a giant metal robot that was looked like Shadow. I took it in as I shook of its hit.

"This… Is the Shadow Chaser! And you have the pleasure to be its first test run!" He said. I took in the robot while keeping my eyes on everything else. The other robots had stopped firing at me and were instead standing idly by. On the robot two much smaller robots jumped off and moved away. One was square and the other was more spherical. They were far away, but I could hear them when one called out to Eggman.

"There, the Shadow Chaser is here and it's ready. Need anything else?" It asked.

"Yes, prep one of the Egg grapes, once this bad boy is done I'll need something to hold him in. And make sure you don't turn it on when I toss him inside! I have questions for him!" He shouted. The two smaller robots rolled away back to the building behind them. I didn't know what an Egg grape was, but I could tell by his tone that it was some kind of prison. He thought that he was going to capture me, but I was going to prove him wrong.

"It doesn't matter what robot you throw at me, I'll beat it like the rest." I said. Because I said that I would beat it I now had to. I wouldn't let myself lie, so now I had even more motivation to destroy it. I didn't know what it was capable of, but it didn't matter. I would beat it, and then I would be the one asking the questions. Like why he has a robot designed like Shadow? As I thought about how I would fight it, the Shadow Chaser lunged at me with incredible speed. I didn't anticipate it and was almost too slow. I dodged to my left as the robot stopped at where I had just been.

" _Something that big shouldn't be that fast."_ I thought. I was still dodging when the robot turned its head to look at me and then reached out and grabbed my leg. Its giant metal claws put a lot of pressure on my leg as it then flung me towards the ground. I slammed into the earth with enough force to shake the nearby trees. I pushed myself out of the hole only to be punched by the robot. This hit sent me flying through the air and through a tree. Once again I was lying on the ground dazed and in pain. The robot was faster than I thought it could be, but was just as strong as it looked. I shook my head and saw the robot charging at me again. I gritted my teeth as thought about what to do. It charged and I jumped into the air and onto its head. Its hand quickly came and tried to hit me off. I moved with its hand and jumped onto it instead of letting it hit me. When it stopped moving I leapt off of it and towards the robot's giant face. I kicked it with as much strength as I could and it stumbled backwards. I landed on the ground and continued my attack. I curled up and spun at its legs and hit both of them. I stopped myself by placing my right hand on the ground and then dove towards the robots chest. I punched it as hard as I could and the robot toppled over. It may have been big and strong, but that didn't mean it could take a hit. I watched the robot fall to the ground and saw something I wasn't expecting. Before it touched the ground the robot stopped itself with one of its large claws and then spun itself sideways for a sweeping kick. I couldn't dodge as its leg smashed into me and sent me flying away. I crashed through another tree and hit the ground several times. When I finally stopped moving I was out of breath, sore, and in pain. This wasn't good, but compared to other situations I had been in throughout my life I was alright. Nothing broken and no life threatening wounds. I cleared my head and looked over at where he had kicked me from. Instead of it being far away, the robot was right in front of me and reaching for me. I was caught in its giant claw and couldn't move. It held me trapped in its right hand and held me in place. It began to squeeze and I could feel myself getting crushed inside its hand.

"GHAAAA!" I shouted. The robot then held me up high into the air so that I was face to face with Eggman. He was floating a few feet away and looking very pleased with himself.

"Oh ho. Now this model looks like a winner!" He said. He moved a few inches closer as he gloated in front of me.

"I have to say that I was expecting more out of you for all the talk you've given me. Find Shadow this and I'll beat you that! But in the end I was better than you were." He said with an evil smile. Then he backed away a few feet as he continued to talk.

"Or maybe you're just not as good as you think. Compared to Sonic you looked like you were running on one foot. He might have given the Shadow Chaser a run for its money." He said. I began to try and soundlessly break free as he continued to talk. I pushed with all that I could and began to loosen the robots grip.

"But to be fair, this is only its first run. A few calibrations here and some finishing touches there and this puppy will be ready to take the Freedom Fighters or Shadow. After all, this is why I designed the robot in the first place." He said. I glared at him as I continued to break free.

"So you built this robot to kill Shadow?" I asked him. I was nearly an inch loose and in a few more minutes of talking I would be.

"Yes, but I haven't had the chance to test it on him yet. It was designed to be able to take him down at his best, counter him in every way. You… Your nothing compared to him. You have skill sure but from what I've seen you're not as strong as him, not as fast as him, and don't have any of the powers that he does." He said. I continued to struggle as well as ignore him. A few more seconds and…

He moved in closer and looked me in the eye. I stopped moving and stared back, trying to not let him know that I was about to break free. He looked at me and I looked at him and we stared in silence for just a few seconds. Finally, he spoke up.

"You do have power, don't you." He said smugly. I didn't make any expressions as he spoke. I had wanted to keep them a secret but if he had figured them out then there wasn't any reason to try and hide them anymore. I looked at him as I replied.

"You can take my power from my dead body" I said.

"Can do!" He said in a cheerful manner. He snapped his fingers and then the robot threw me through the air. I was flying at the speed of sound as I crashed through the forest, through dozens of trees, and finally landed on the ground in a new clearing. I was shaken, but nowhere close to giving up. If there was one quality that I know I had, it was to be able to endure nearly anything. I began to pick myself up as I felt the Shadow Chaser begin to charge after me. It shook the ground with its approach and after a few moment it appeared where it had thrown me from. I pushed two trees out of its way as it entered the clearing with Eggman right behind it.

"I have to say, if there is one thing that you have surprised me with, it's you're ability to take a hit!" he said. "Sonic and even Shadow wouldn't have been as fast to get up as you are. Unfortunately that's about all you have going for you. Now then, why don't you show me what power your hiding." He said. I was going to use my power to beat this robot, but first I was going to give it everything else that I could give it. If I couldn't live up to Shadow then I had no reason to be here. I intensely focused on fighting the robot and let everything else leave my mind.

I ran at it head on as quickly as I could. It punched at me with its right hand when I got in range. I jumped, placed my hand on the robots, and propelled myself up its arm. It clawed at me with its left but I jumped over it and kicked it in its head. Its head moved backwards from the force of the kick but it lashed out at me as it moved. Its right hand swatted me towards the ground where I hit the earth but immediately rebounded. I used a spinning attack at its torso and then at its hand when it tried to hit me. I ricocheted off of its arm and into the air above it. I aimed for its head and heel kicked it as I fell. I felt the metal bend under the force of my kick, but the robot immediately responded with a roundhouse kick that sent me flying. I caught myself on the ground but had to act quickly as it came at me. The robot curled up into a ball and used its razor sharp quills as blades. I dodged to my right only to be grabbed by its arm. It picked me up and swung me over its head and onto the ground. I kicked my way out of its grip and quickly darted beneath the robot. I used an uppercut on it chest and moved it backwards a little. The robot punched me into a nearby tree. I hit the trunk and opened my eyes just to see the robot use its right leg for a sweeping kick. I jumped up and watched as it hit and destroyed five trees with one kick. I landed on its other side and saw its right hand try to claw me. I reached out for its hand and managed to stop it in its tracks. Then, I pulled as hard as I could and flipped the robot over myself. It was about to slam into the ground when its body swerved in the air and the robot landed on its feet. I was still holding onto its claw, and it then pulled me towards it and threw me in the opposite direction. I broke through the trunk of yet another tree as I realized just how much I was beginning to hate this forest. I heard Eggman laugh as he flew above me.

"Ahahahahaha! You can put on quite the show, but it's pointless to fight. The Shadow Chaser has you beat on all fronts Hedgehog. It's faster than you, stronger than you, more agile than you, and far more durable. You can fight it all you want but in the end it will beat you and then I'll take whatever power you're hiding from me!" He shouted. I stood up and looked at the robot. It wasn't attacking, which gave me a free moment to think. It was big, fast, strong, agile, tough, and overall physically better than me. It was designed to take down Shadow, as well as this Sonic person. I smiled as I looked at it. It was tough, but I had trained with Shadow for years, and knew that he would be able to take this thing down. He was easily stronger and faster than me, but we were equally skilled in combat. He could beat this thing with his skill alone. I knew that I could, but I had underestimated it at first. I didn't think of fighting it like I would Shadow, instead I looked at it like it was just another robot. I let it tire me out and throw me around. Now I knew what my mistake was, as what I would have to do to correct it. I could keep fighting and beat it with my fists, but after I defeated it I knew that there were even more robots waiting for me. I needed to stop wasting time and energy and end this quickly. There was a lot of work that needed to be done and I wouldn't let something like this stand in my way. I tapped into the energy within and let it flow through me.

"Chaos…" I said. A green bolt of light appeared in my hand and I aimed for the robots head. "Spear!" I shouted. I threw the bolt of Chaos energy at the robot and watched as it hit. It stumbled and bobbed as it took the hit. Its head had a blast mark where the spear had hit it, and it looked slightly disoriented.

 _"There, a few more of those and I'll have destroyed it."_ I thought. I began to channel more energy and concentrated it in my hands. I formed two more spears in my hands as I heard Eggman from above.

"Oooh… So you can use Chaos energy as well. Another thing that you have in common with Shadow. If that were any other model of robot it would have been destroyed. Unfortunately for you, this isn't any other model. It's called the Shadow Chaser! It can deal with all you're attacks as well as that Chaos you have!" He said. I heard him then shout to the robot. Shadow Chaser, activate Chaos Mode!" He yelled.

I looked back at the robot as it began to do something. It spread its arms to either side of its body as what looked like two giant inhibitor rings fell off of its left and right wrists. I thought that they were simply to mimic Shadow's design, I didn't suspect that they had an actual function to them. They fell and made a muffled noise as they hit the ground. After they came off the robots metal body began to change. Small panels began to rotate all over the robots body and change its shape and color. The robot had changed from black and red to a white gold and red as the transformation finished. Finally, the robots torso changed from a normal looking hedgehog body to something different. A glowing green orb was now visible in its chest, but protected by a glass cover. The transformation finished and I could hear Eggman shouting from his chair.

"Now, then, why don't you show me just how powerful you are!"

The robot lunged at me and I jumped over him. I spun in the air and released my energy.

"Chaos Spear!" I shouted. I threw two bolts of Chaos energy at the robot but when they hit its body the bolts disappeared. I was shocked by the disappearance and didn't notice as the robot turned around and backhanded me in the air. I caught myself on the ground and stared at the robot. It was taking my energy without even flinching. The Chaos Mode must have made the robot resistant to my powers. I grimaced as I looked at it. It was hard enough to fight before, but now that I had found a weakness it seemed to have adapted. I was beginning to think that maybe Shadow would have had trouble with this one as well. I took a breath as I prepared to rush it. If it was resistant to my energy now then I would just have to destroy it the way I originally intended. I dashed at the robot and looked for an opening. Before I got close the robot lunged at me faster than it had before. I dodged to the right but was too slow. Its claws sliced at me and left three large cuts on my torso. I closed my mouth and winced in pain. The cuts were deep, but they could be worse. I quickly forgot about the pain as I focused on the fight. The robot swiped at me with its left hand I barely managed to dodge. I ran up to it and kicked its legs as hard as I could. I connected with the robot but my kick didn't faze it at all. It kicked me back and sent me flying towards the forest. I got up and shook off its attack. Not only was it resistant to my Chaos energy, but to my normal attacks as well. I began to feel myself more and more outmatched by this robot. If this was just the beginning of my time on Mobius then I couldn't imagine how many beings possessed this much power. As I despaired, the robot appeared to my right out of nowhere and kicked me back into the clearing. I skid on the ground until I stopped and then pushed myself up. The robot was just coming out of the trees as I got back on my feet. It was faster and stronger then it was earlier, so there was only one option left. I charged up as much chaos energy as I could and prepared to attack it with everything that I could. It may be more resistant to my energy now, but there should be no way for it to resist what I was about to give it. Eggman cackled as he watched.

"What's wrong Ash, are you just now realizing that you can't win? This is what happens when you take on Eggman." He called. The robot charged at me with its claws out and I ran through its legs. As soon as I was behind it the robot began to turn around. Before it did I threw my spears.

"Chaos Spears!" I shouted. I threw one from my left hand, one from my right. Both hit the robot and disappeared. It began to run at me again but I kept throwing. Another from my left, one from my right, one spear, and then another, and then another, and another. I through spear after spear at the robot as I ran around it. Each one hit it and disappeared on contact. As I threw more spears faster and faster I began to notice something. Every time a spear connected the robot moved a little bit slower. The more that hit it at nearly the same time the slower it moved. It continued to try and attack me but every time I hit it with a spear it would move slowly enough for me to run right by it. My spears may not have been doing anything on the surface, but something was happening to the robot. I heard as Eggman began to talk above me, but he was speaking much more quietly and not to anyone. I listened as he talked to himself.

"Damn it, the core wasn't calibrated right, only absorbing half the energy. And it can't function while absorbing energy. Should have used a different model." He muttered. He probably though that I couldn't hear him, but all of my senses were very refined. I smiled as I realized how to beat it. I need to throw more energy at him, enough to stop it for good. I dodged out of the way of one of its attacks and ran to the other end of the clearing. The robot turned around and began to charge at me while I concentrated my energy.

"Chaos…" I began. The robot was close and nearly in striking distance. It was time to finish it off.

"Spear Storm!" I shouted. Dozens of spears materialized in the air above me and flew at the robot. Nearly all of them connected simultaneously and stopped the robot in its tracks. Chaos energy reverberated off of its body and arced from place to place. There were blast marks all over the robot and it looked much worse for wear. I smiled as I looked at the robot and saw the damage I did.

"Gahhh. I knew I should have finished it before I sent it out on a test run. I didn't have time to calibrate the energy core or improve its Chaos absorption, let alone finish its Super form." He said. At the word Super form the robots head moved and its eyes began to glow.

"Necessary Chaos energy acquired. Activating Super form." It said in a metallic voice.

"What! No, that wasn't an order. You're not ready, disengage!" Eggman shouted. The robot didn't seem to hear him as it began to glow. It body irradiated yellow light and the parts of it that were damaged began to repair themselves. In a matter of moments it was fully rebuilt and looked even more powerful than before. I readied myself as I heard Eggman shout some more.

"No! I wasn't finished programming that feature!" He shouted. I processed what he said for a second before the robot came at me again. This time it was too fast for me to dodge. It smashed me with its fist and I felt myself become one with the ground. It hit so hard that I was now the center of a crater. I tried to push myself out only to be punched again, and again, and again. The crater was much deeper now, but it was hard to tell. My right arm was broken, so were two of my ribs and a vertebrae. I could hardly think straight with the concussion I had, as well as all the pain that I was feeling. I was beaten and broken, stuck in a hole with a machine slowly killing me. I could feel myself begin to fall unconscious as the robot stood above me. My eyes began to close as I felt myself get picked up out of the hole and held in the air. The robot began to squeeze and I could feel my life fade away. I vaguely heard Eggman from somewhere behind me.

"No! Stop it! I wanted him alive! He is a valuable power source! Shadow Chaser, stop!" He shouted. My body was being crushed in the robots metal claws and I could feel one thought at the front of my mind.

 _"Damn it, I underestimated him too much. Now I'm going have to use that…"_ I felt the robot as he continued to crush my injured and broken body. I couldn't move, but I didn't need to. All I needed to do was concentrate and focus my energy at my center. After a second I began to glow bright red as the energy flowed through me.

"Wait, what are you…" Eggman said. I charged up my energy and focused it inside.

"Chaos, BLAST!" I shouted. Energy erupted from around me and I watched as the destruction unfold. Everything within several meters was instantly atomized, except for the robot. The blast destroyed the robots arm, but the rest of it survived. Even though it was still standing, it had lost an arm and taken serious damage. I fell out of its arm and crumpled to the ground. I used my left arm to cushion the blow, but to little effect. I felt my broken ribs and vertebrae send pain signals throughout my body as my body hit the ground. I took a moment to compose myself and get my thoughts in order. I lightly pressed my right hand against the ground and felt out the damage. It was fine and didn't hurt when I held myself with it. The blast must have fixed it. My body only had a few small cuts and bruises but those would go away soon enough. What I needed to do was fix my bones before Eggman threw anything else at me. I looked at my right hand and the inhibitor ring I had on it. I took it off and felt as energy coursed through me. It felt good, but I knew better than to let it out for too long. I needed a quick fix and that was it. I channeled the energy through me and sent it to my bones.

"Chaos Heal." I whispered. In a moment all the pain in my body left and I was back to near full strength. I quickly put the ring back on but I could feel the after effects already kicking in. I concentrated hard and focused on pushing them back. It would be more painful, but I had to deal with it later. I couldn't afford to become immobile right now. I stood up out of the hole and looked around for Eggman. His Shadow chaser was down and I was about to make him pay for attacking me.

"Now then, where were we?" I asked. I turned around and saw as a giant hand reached out and pinned me against the ground. Its claws dug in and trapped me against the dirt. It was the Shadow Chaser, and it felt just as strong as before. Most of its right side was missing and I could see inside of it, but it was somehow still functional and able to keep me down. There were arcs of electricity bouncing off it and many parts sticking out of its right side. It was cracked all over and damaged everywhere, but it seemed to be glowing even brighter than before. I stared at it as it loomed over and held me down. It so bright that it was hard to look at, and it looked as though it was getting even more luminescent. I struggled to break free as I heard Eggman shout from above me.

"Congratulations, you've destroyed half of my robot! Too bad that it's still operational. At least you can die happy knowing that you almost beat me!" He shouted. I looked at the robot and saw as the glowing green gem in the center began to gather energy. It chest transformed until it looked as though I was staring down the barrel of a gun. The gem glowed brighter and I could tell that it was about to vaporize me. I struggled to break free from its grip, but I knew that I couldn't do it in time. My mind processed all the possibilities and none of them were good. I needed to escape and do it quickly. I struggled and managed to get my right arm free from the robots claws. I looked at it and knew what I was going to do. I reached out and grabbed the glowing gem inside of it.

"What! No, stop, get out of there!" Eggman yelled at me. I could feel my skin burning from the energy of the gem. I ignored the pain and began to squeeze the gem as hard as I could. I felt my own energy within the gem, and I willed it to break free. A crack appeared in the gem and I could hear Eggman yell from above.

"NO! Stop! You're going to release all of the energy!" He screamed. I saw him fly away and I focused on crushing it. More cracks appeared, and each one radiated light. My hand was being burned away but I ignored it and continued on.

"Chaos Shield!" I shouted. A protective sphere of energy enveloped me. The robot was about to explode and it wasn't going to take me with it. I broke them gem and everything around me became a maelstrom of fire and destruction. All the chaos energy it had accumulated expanded into a mushroom cloud. The only thing I could see was a fire that surrounded me on all sides. Its hand that was holding me down disintegrated and left me free. I could feel the fire against my shield, but it held and kept me safe. After a moment the fire faded and ashes began to fall onto of me. I waited a moment and then let the shield fall and the ashes cover me. I stood up and looked around at the destruction I made. The entire clearing I was in was now a crater, and every tree that was around had become a pile of ashes. Father out there were trees on fire, and farther from them the forest was fine. I looked around as Eggman came flying back to look at the damage.

"Well that's just great. Now Sonic will know that I've been here and he'll find my base. You've set back months of labor and planning!" He said. I looked up at him as I listened to his problems. He didn't care about the forest, about environment, about anyone or anything other than himself. To him I was just a problem that needed to be take care of. I began to feel myself truly hate him as he continued to talk.

"You have ruined everything! Why! Why are you here and what do you want!" He shouted. I could have said a lot of things in a lot of different ways. I decided on something that I believed would make him furious. The cold hard truth.

"To take over this planet and become ruler of the world." I said.

"Oh. So you're here to play the conquer game hmmm? He asked casually. It wasn't the rage I was expecting, and I began to question how his mind worked.

"Well, you'll have to wait in line if you want to do that. I've got a long list of people who want to do that as well. And if you think that you can just take me down and get your way then you are sorely mistaken." He said. I heard something come from my right and I braced myself for an impact. I was knocked away hard but recovered quickly. I looked over and saw what had hit me. It was another machine that looked like a hedgehog, except this one was normal size and the color blue. It was very different compared to the Shadow Chaser, but that didn't matter. I was sick of dealing with these robots and I wasn't going to let another one get the better of me. I jumped off of the ground only to be shot in the back with a laser. I felt the pain as I stumbled around. I stayed on my feet and turned around to look see what had shot me. It was another robot that looked strange. It had a more realistic face and body than the other ones did. If it wasn't for the clearly visible machinery it could almost be mistaken for a living being. It had a brown face with a red top that seemed to resemble hair. It looked effeminate, but could pack a punch. I looked between the two of them on either side as Eggman called out.

"You've won round one hedgehog, but let's see if you can last a few dozen more!" He shouted. I ground my teeth together in rage. I was moving too slow, thinking too slow, fighting too slow... Underestimating my opponents, fighting carelessly, and holding back. If this was what Mobius had to offer me, then I needed to get in shape, I needed to do my best, I needed focus.

"Enough!" I shouted. I looked at the robots on either side and planned how I would beat them. But first I focused on what really mattered.

"You're going down, NOW!" I shouted at Eggman. He cowered in his chair as he heard my voice. He could tell that I was fed up with his games.

"Metal Sonic, Sally, Attack!" He shouted. The two robots rushed me and I focused on them. The blue one lunged with a hand outstretched to claw me. I caught its arm with my left and punched it in the chest. I swept out its leg and shoved it into the ground. I rolled over top the blue robot and caught its foot with mine. I spun my foot up and sent the blue one into the air. It was shot with a laser blast to its back and I took the friendly fire to my advantage. I turned around and punched the blue one into the other and sent them toppling over in the same direction. I readied my energy and threw it at them.

"Chaos Spear!" I shouted. A bolt of energy hit them both and sent them back even farther. I looked at Eggman who was flying away back towards his base. I wasn't going to let him escape.

"Chaos Control!" I shouted. I teleported myself onto his flying chair and heard him shriek.

"Eieek! How do you..." He began to say. I bent down and shoved my fist through his chair and caused it to erupt in black smoke.

"Ghaaaa!" He shouted. The chair began to wobble as it flew through the air. I stomped on it and made is flip upside down. Eggman's feet dangled over open air as he held onto the chair for dear life, screaming all the while. I continued to stand on it normally while upside down. I grabbed his coat and pulled him closer to me, his eyes looking into mine as I held him while standing on the chair.

"Fall." I said. I threw him down to the ground and watched as he plummeted. In a split second the blue robot flew over and caught him in the air. The other robot flew at me from the side with its laser out and aimed at me. I jumped off of the chair and towards the female robot. It fired a laser at me but I dodged it midair. I grabbed its left shoulder with my left hand and used it as support while I moved. I punched its face and sent it tumbling backwards into the air. I kicked the robot in the chest with my leg and stabilized for a moment. I flipped over onto its back and kicked off, sending it flying back and myself towards Eggman. As I kicked off I aimed my right hand back at it.

"Chaos Spear!" I shouted. I hit it with a bolt of Chaos and listened as it veered away. I dove towards the blue robot as super speed. It fired a laser from its chest but missed by a few inches. I kicked it downwards and watched it drop Eggman.

"Aaahhhhh!" He screamed. He fell towards the ground and I dove after him. I caught him in the air and kicked him in a way that would lessen his impact. He hit the ground at an angle and rolled from the force of the blow. I landed on the grass and saw that I was right next to his base. He began to pick himself up and I rushed over to him. I grabbed him by his throat and held him in the air. He was gasping for breath as the two robots flew back around and circled us. They landed and I noticed the damage I inflicted. Both looked bad, but they were still operational. Both of them had their lasers pointed at me and I tried to decide what to do next. I looked at the blue robot, and then at the female one, and then towards Eggman who I had in my hand. Held him up a little higher and listened to him gasp for air.

"You wouldn't want to attack me with this guy in the crossfire now would you?" I asked. I waited for a moment and saw that neither robot had fired. They both slightly lowered the laser blasters but continued to surround me. I figured that since Eggman had built these things so they wouldn't attack him, and that he also knew how to control them. I pulled him closer and looked at him face to face.

"Give me control over your robots." I said. He looked at me furiously as he replied.

"You... I don't have to..." I moved my hand over his throat and squeezed it.

"Gwhaa!" He choked. The robots moved closer to me and adjusted their aim directly towards me. I loosened my grip a little and allowed Eggman enough room to breathe. He took a gasp of air and I asked him again.

"Give me complete control, Now!" I shouted. He sneered at me with as much evil as he could muster as he talked.

"Fine..." He said with venom in his voice. I continued to hold him as he spoke. "The command override is nine-nine-sigma-zero-seven-one. This will give you control over all the robots as well as functions of my base." He said. I moved my face closer to his so that he couldn't look anywhere other than my eyes.

"I hate liars." I said. I squeezed his neck tighter and I heard him struggle for air. "The real code." I said. "Now!"

"Augh. Fine, sierra-six-delta-two-Egg override." He said. I squeezed him harder until his face turned purple. The female robot flew at me with incredible speed.

"Must protect Eggman." It said in a metal voice. I dropped Eggman for a second and kicked the robot as it flew at me. It caught my foot but I raised my right hand and threw my energy.

"Chaos Spear!" I shouted. I knocked the robot towards the blue one and put Eggman between us. I grabbed his throat from behind and picked him up again. I whispered into his ear from behind.

"Lie to me one more time and I will kill you." I said. He struggled a little as I whispered more.

"First order your robots to stop. Then give me control." He was silent for a moment before he spoke up.  
"Blue-delta-niner-seven-omega, supreme Eggman manual override. Reassign priority one, do nothing and await further instructions." he said. The two robots froze and then stood straight with their arms at their sides. They didn't move and I relaxed my grip. Eggman fell out of my hand and onto the ground. I looked from him to the robots as I thought about what to do next. I decided that the possibility of betrayal by these robots outnumbered the advantages of having them as pawns. I didn't know if this would work, but I wanted to see if I could destroy them easily.

"Blue-delta-niner-seven-omega, supreme Eggman manual override." I said. The two robots instantly looked from Eggman to me, waiting for my order.

"Destroy Yourselves." I said.

"What?" Eggman gasped. "After you just took control of them? You can't destroy him, I need Metal Sonic to beat regular Sonic." The blue robot took its hand and placed it on its chest. The other one stood still but seemed to be saying something.

"Initiating self-destruct," Said the female robot. I looked at Eggman to see the expression on his face, only to find nothing there. He was calm, collected, and neutral. I didn't understand what he was thinking. He was just pleading for me to spare them a moment ago but now he looked like he couldn't care less. I looked from him, to the blue robot, to the female one that was counting down.

"Self-destruct in five seconds." It said. I looked between it and Eggman and tried to figure out the connection. There was something about the female one that Eggman was interested in. I thought as it continued to count.

"Four. Three. Two." I realized that Eggman wanted to see this one be destroyed, but it didn't make sense. I couldn't think of why he wanted it gone or what purpose it served. My mind raced with possibilities until it found one. This robots destruction would somehow benefit him. I couldn't figure out how or in what way, but I did know that if it was good for him, it was probably bad for me. I decided to fix that as it reached the last number.

"Stop, don't self-destruct." I said.

"Self-destruct canceled." It replied. It and the blue one both resumed their waiting positions then stood there motionlessly. I looked at Eggman and saw that he still looked the same. I squinted at him as I tried to figure out his plan. He wanted this robot destroyed, so I decided to keep it around. I looked at it and saw that it was heavily damaged. I decided to ask some questions.

"Can you fix yourself?" I asked. The robot turned and looked at me, then it responded.

"This unit is not equipped for self-repairs. Doing so without assistance will take several days or weeks to complete depending on damage received." It replied.

"Does Eggman normally repair you?"

"Yes." I looked between the female and the blue one and decided to keep both of them intact.

"Go fix yourselves and then await further orders." The robots lifter their damaged arms to their heads.

"Yes sir." they responded. They walked past me and Eggman and towards the front of the base. I looked at Eggman as he watched them walk away.

"Get up." I said. I grabbed his arm and pulled him off the ground.

"Ahhh." You don't have to be so rough." He said. I squinted my eyes as I looked at him. I hated him, but I needed him alive. I began to follow the robots as they walked around the base. I held Eggman and moved him with me.

"I have a lot of questions and you have answers. You'll do as I say or you'll die, understood." I said. He scowled at me as he replied.

"If you think that you're in charge then you are..."

"Ghaa!" I pulled him down closer to me and looked him in the eyes. I made sure that he listened to every word I said.

"I am in charge... Now move!" I said. I directed him forwards and I made my way into his base.

 **Well, was it worth the wait. I hope you think it is, because I don't. Any critizism is welcome as well as any comments about the story, setting, and characters involved. Feel free to write a review. And thanks to all the** _(Patient)_ **readers out there. The next one will come out sooner I swear. Until next time. Thank you.**


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